West will go solo in his fashion ventures.
In a new interview, the rapper, now going by Ye, talked about his plans to take a break from his business partners. His own Donda campuses will house shopping, schools, farms, and dorms and will be an integrated facility. The merchandise sold at the campuses will be unique to the physical and online shops of the company.
Ye will be maintaining the operations of the Yeezy Supply, an e- commerce portal that hosts the product drops for new releases.
I think it is fine. The companies made money. The companies made me rich. The rapper stated in the interview that they created ideas that will change apparel forever. The slides that have changed the shoe industry are similar to the foam runner. It’s time for Ye to start a new industry. There are no companies standing in between me and the audience.
The move follows long-standing conflicts with his collaborators, including Adidas, the manufacturer of Yeezy’s footwear, where the rapper recently accused the company of stealing a style for the Adilette 22 slides, which he claimed was “blatant copying.”
Ye plans to negotiate with the company a 20% royalty split in perpetuity for all of the shoes he has designed. If these companies want to play with me, I have been playing nice up to this point, said Ye.
He claimed he was excluded in meetings and by management at Gap. Ye said there was something in the way. They did the dream but without Ye.
Ye has long-term agreements with both Adidas and Gap, and his agreement with Adidas ends in 2026. The rapper has tried many times to be included on the boards.