Highsnobiety

Gap is garnering a lot of criticism for abandoning its collaboration with Black designer Telfar Clemens. The struggling retailer reportedly ghosted and failed to pay Telfar amid Covid-19. A fact made even more problematic considering Gap's brand new 10-year deal with Kanye West's YEEZY.

Gap announced its mammoth deal with YEEZY yesterday, "a next-level retail partnership" which many consider a huge win for Black creatives. However, among all the buzz surrounding the Gap-YEEZY partnership, one question is becoming painfully obvious – whatever happened to that Telfar collaboration?

Earlier this year, Gap announced its collaboration with Telfar at a surprise fashion week party. There was a ton of buzz, with many excited to see the independent Black designer secure such a lucrative deal. In an interview with Highsnobiety, Telfar spoke of his "obsession" with Gap and his excitement at the platform the collab would give his brand.

Now Business of Fashion reports that the Telfar x Gap collaboration came to a halt back in March due to the coronavirus lockdowns and widespread store closures. In the wake of this indefinite postponement, Gap offered Telfar 25% of the design fee as an advance for work that had already been completed on the collab. Yet, since then Telfar and his team have not received any payment for the partnership, not even the postponement fee.

Understandably, Gap is facing criticism for abandoning a Black-owned brand for budget reasons and instead clout-chasing an expensive multi-year deal with Kanye.

Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Twitter post.
Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Twitter post.

Gap is reportedly looking into the matter.

We Recommend
  • Why Corteiz’s New Collab Is a Piece of History
    • Style
  • Lukas Podolski Kicks Off ARMEDANGELS x 1. FC Köln's New Collab
    • Sports
    • sponsored
  • Palace’s Gap Collab Is for the Whole Family
    • Style
  • Dior's New Collab Is Here to Make You Smile
    • Style
  • EXCLUSIVE: DAP GAP's Next Drop Is Huge & Dapper Dan Knows It
    • Style
What To Read Next
  • Nike Finally Releases Low-Rise Rework of Air Jordan 11 'Space Jam'
    • Sneakers
    • sponsored
  • Federer & Nadal: Two Rivals Go Hiking, Louis Vuitton-Style (EXCLUSIVE)
    • Style
  • Ronnie Fieg's Clarks Have Grilling Shoe Energy
    • Sneakers
  • The Miami F1 Grand Prix Was About Collaboration, Too
    • Sports
  • Apple's New iPad Pro Might Replace Your Laptop
    • Culture
  • District Vision's Beefy New Balance Shoes Are Now Twice as Nice
    • Sneakers
*If you submitted your e-mail address and placed an order, we may use your e-mail address to inform you regularly about similar products without prior explicit consent. You can object to the use of your e-mail address for this purpose at any time without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic tariffs. Each newsletter contains an unsubscribe link. Alternatively, you can object to receiving the newsletter at any time by sending an e-mail to info@highsnobiety.com

Web Accessibility Statement

Titel Media GmbH (Highsnobiety), is committed to facilitating and improving the accessibility and usability of its Website, www.highsnobiety.com. Titel Media GmbH strives to ensure that its Website services and content are accessible to persons with disabilities including users of screen reader technology. To accomplish this, Titel Media GmbH tests, remediates and maintains the Website in-line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which also bring the Website into conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Disclaimer

Please be aware that our efforts to maintain accessibility and usability are ongoing. While we strive to make the Website as accessible as possible some issues can be encountered by different assistive technology as the range of assistive technology is wide and varied.

Contact Us

If, at any time, you have specific questions or concerns about the accessibility of any particular webpage on this Website, please contact us at accessibility@highsnobiety.com, +49 (0)30 235 908 500. If you do encounter an accessibility issue, please be sure to specify the web page and nature of the issue in your email and/or phone call, and we will make all reasonable efforts to make that page or the information contained therein accessible for you.