YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga is dead. Long live YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga. You may have thought that Ye's Instagram tirades against GAP, adidas, and their respective executives would mean the immediate end of YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga and you'd be wrong. There's plenty of gas (or is that GAP?) in the tank and the second major collection — appropriately called "Part 2" — is imminently releasing across the globe.
Literally: for the first time, YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga will launch in-store outside of America, taking over two GAP flagship stores in Tokyo and Shanghai. These retooled outposts will sport a façade similar to the Times Square GAP store that Ye revamped earlier this summer.
Part 2 of YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga is, like the previous drops, still produced by GAP and includes both familiar and never-before-seen garments conceived by Ye and Demna before the Balenciaga creative director stepped away from the project.
GAP recently explained that, despite the end of the YEEZY GAP partnership (more on this later), several more YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga product rollouts are still scheduled to release, which is why we're getting Part 2 even after what appeared to be the end of Ye and GAP's working relationship.
Anyways, YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga Part 2 will be available at participating GAP stores and globally online via YEEZY GAP's website, Balenciaga's web store, and digital Balenciaga partners Farfetch, Mytheresa, and Luisaviaroma from September 22 at 9am EST.
The newly redesigned Tokyo and Shanghai YEEZY GAP stores reopen on September 23 and 26, respectively, and will carry goods from Part 2 and some of the original items as well.
What all is releasing, you ask? Well, why don't you scroll through the massive droplist below and take a gander for yourself.
Indeed, some recognizable silhouettes on hand, including YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga's signature Round Jacket, hoodies, denim jacket, and sweatpants, but there's also a lot of newness.
For the first times, fans can shop a YEEZY GAP puffer coat, mock neck pullover, fleece hoodie, hooded jumpsuit, wide sweatpants, and roll-top backpack, to name only a few new bits. There's one significant thing missing but more on that later.
Once again, YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga's latest designs are spotlighted in a campaign overseen by Betsy Johnson, a member of the Balenciaga inner circle and Ye's go-to stylist these days.
The imagery, seemingly shot in Japan, again sees masked figures modeling the YEEZY GAP designs but eschews the exaggerated graphic design of the recent YEEZY GAP campaign uploaded to the YEEZY Instagram page.
It's odd, frankly, that this collection is described as "Part 2" given that a second round of YEEZY GAP newness technically released back in May, which gave way to the redesigned New York store and eventual dumpster diving.
Also, note that YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga is being referred to in official press releases and by Ye himself as "YZY GAP," reflecting the extra-abbreviated shorthand that Ye prefers these days. Hence why the official YEEZY Instagram account — now 500k followers strong — uses the super short @YZY handle.
Confusing but this is Ye's world. We just live in it.
Speaking of Ye, the Donda Academy founder teased Part 2 by uploading an Instagram Story that showed video game-style footage that looked downright identical to Grand Theft Auto, except that instead of Niko Bellic or CJ stomping through a back alley, it was a YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga-wearing figure running through other YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga-wearing figures.
Pretty well-timed considering all the buzz around GTA 6 at the moment. Note that the footage uploaded to Ye's Instagram is not a playable game, unlike the YEEZY GAP game released this past summer.
Anyways, it's a better use of Ye's social media platform than the rants he uploaded earlier in September.
For a full four or five days, Ye lashed out at adidas and GAP in typically vague fashion, which eventually led to the YEEZY terminating its contract with GAP.
This included public call-outs of execs at both brands and the publishing of a document revealing apparent "restrictions" placed upon YEEZY by its working relationships with both GAP and adidas.
Neither of the latter companies confirmed the veracity of the documents published by Ye.
Ye, meanwhile, kept busy by opening up a bit about his corporate clashes on a podcast and even holding an impromptu celebrity-only party at New York Fashion Week to publicly premiere his futuristic sunglasses, the YZY SHDZ that he promised to make available for a mere $20.
Oh and, yes, you read that right: they're called YZY SHDZ, no GAP involved. The sunglasses aren't dropping as part of YEEZY GAP Engineered by Balenciaga Part 2 but expect an official drop date sooner rather than later.
Still, YEEZY GAP's sudden dissolution was a stunningly abrupt end to a collaborative relationship expected to last a decade and bring in several billion dollars in revenue, one that had really only just begun in earnest earlier this year, not counting the few drops in 2021.
Fans may hate to see Ye's GAP brand go but ought to love watching it leave, as Part 2 is delivering a massive selection of YEEZY GAP newness for what may be the last time.
