Late last week, an attorney for Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, told The Associated Press that a letter was sent to Gap on Thursday (Sept. 15) to terminate the contract between the clothing chain and West’s company, Yeezy.
Less than 48 hours since the announcement, rumors began to swirl about the mega mogul reportedly reaching out to smaller, Black-owned footwear companies for potential partnerships to merge his clothing and shoe lines. This bold business move would bring more awareness to independent clothing brands while creating a bigger stake in the fashion industry for West.
“I think he came at us because we are vanguards of the culture,” says an anonymous business owner.
“With all of his power, influence and wide reach, it’s the last thing that major corporations want. This is huge.”
In 2021, Bloomberg ranked him as the wealthiest Black American, pegging his net worth at $6 billion. Between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion of that net worth comes from West’s partnerships with Gap and Adidas, according to investment bank UBS. A potential partnership between West and smaller, Black-owned businesses would create a larger share of the fashion market for underrepresented corporations.
“If a deal of this proportion goes through and my company goes into partnership with Ye, there will be a tectonic shift,” says the unnamed source.
“This shift takes the power away from our oppressors and puts it back into hands of the people who are the gatekeepers of popular culture.”
According to industry insiders, West is seeking mergers with all Black-owned footwear companies. Sources also say celebrities such as Dave Chappelle, Magic Johnson and former track and field athlete/ professional football player John Carlos (archived for his rebellious Black Power salute on the podium at the 1968 Summer Olympics) are among dignitaries who will reportedly bring their influence to this project.
Companies vying for impending ventures with West include Atlanta-based Nagast Footwear. Launched in 2015, Nagast became the first company to create an internationally successful sneaker line to commemorate the legacy of powerful Black leaders, such as Nat Turner and Marcus Garvey, among others.
Other Black-owned businesses that could be included in possible ventures include the nation’s only Black woman-owned fulfillment center Everlasting Love Fulfillment, among many others.
“Kanye is 10, 20 years ahead of everybody,” says the source, “and he’s looking towards us.”
This article first appeared on Blacknews.com
22 comments
Ye stay focused you’re loved and supported by many we will show up and support you some don’t get the full picture of what’s really going it’s ok many of us are woke we got you #yourenotalone prayers and blessings to you 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Black Businesses stay from this bipolar test tube baby fool!!! He off his medication 💊!!! All money 💰 is not good money 💴!! He sold his soul 😈 Don’t touch him!!!
I pray that he is not killed, I wish him the best and just maybe Black Wall Street can resurrect….
When Kanye appeared
at the TMZ headquarters,he had
this to say:
“When you hear about slavery for 400
For 400 years? That sounds like
years
a choice.”
He’ll NEVER have my support and neither will anyone who has affiliations with him.
Everytime somebody speaks up for black people they always get killed off like Maclom X Martin Luther King and Tupac,Ye doesn’t give a fuck about what people think Obama was a Uncle Tom that do shit for our race beside gave us some cheap ass cell phone we must protect Kanye West nobody speaks up for us and not afraid .