UPDATE 06/03/2022
Last year, we saw a grand re-emergence of Kanye West in popular culture. What began with the soft launch of Kanye’s long-awaited partnership with GAP eventually led to a newly released album in Donda. Post-album release, Kanye West managed to maintain his spot in the center of the popular culture news cycle, frequently appearing with his new muse, Julia Fox, and doing everything he could to promote his favorite luxury brand, Balenciaga. While West’s renewed vigor for the spotlight has made itself the subject of substantial controversy, the increased attention seems to have only reinvigorated his fanbase.
As we’ve moved into 2022, it’s become clear that Mr. West isn’t going anywhere soon. The artist’s public feuding and occasional Instagram outbursts, weaved together with frequent creative output, seem to be positioning the artist for quite the platform in 2022. The year kicked off with a new Yeezy x GAP commercial, which was shortly followed by the announcement of a GAP x Balenciaga x Yeezy apparel collaboration. The artist also had a documentary, titled Jeen-Yuhs, on Netflix and followed up to his 2021 album releasing on February 22, 2022 under the title of Donda 2.
Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga Dove Hoodie
Last year, when Kanye began to release Yeezy apparel for his 2021 album, Donda, the apparel was delivered with the messaging that it had been “Engineered By Balenciaga.” The same messaging has been used for this Yeezy GAP release, meaning that the Kering-owned fashion brand had some role in the creation of these pieces, though that role has not been made explicit. Regardless, the hoodie features the same double-layer construction as the original hoodies do, though the price point is significantly higher. The Yeezy GAP Engineered by Balenciaga Hoodie was made in the USA from a 100% cotton material and unlike the original hoodies, each individual hoodie is separately treated, meaning they’ll all look at least a little bit different from one another.
Jeen-Yuhs Merch
Kanye West’s first official non-restock merch release of 2022 was delivered alongside the theatrical premiere of his new three part documentary series with Netflix. Titled Jeen-Yuhs, the series takes an in-depth look at the life and hip-hop career of West through the eyes of two film-makers who have been following the artist for more than two decades. Jeen-Yuhs officially releases on Netflix on Wednesday, February 16th but received a limited, one day theatrical release on February 10th. So far, the documentary has been giving positive reviews, receiving an 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb. The merch capsule delivered with the documentary is a straight to the point, four piece collection that includes two colors of a hoodie and two colours of a long sleeve t-shirt. All four pieces feature a small Jeen-Yuhs logo on the chest and a colorful graphic on the back detailing the states where the film was available for viewing on February 10th. Like most artist merch released in the last few years, the Kanye West Jeen-Yuhs Hoodies and T-shirts have received a four to six week shipping window. All four pieces from the small capsule can be viewed on StockX here.
Kanye West DONDA Merch
After being teased in June of 2021 and officially announced in July, Kanye West’s DONDA album has arrived. Though the album ended up being delayed by two weeks, West officially delivered the highly anticipated record on August 6th, 2021. Two listening parties for the album were held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, and live streamed on Apple Music on July 22nd and August 6th. Exclusive t-shirts featuring a Mercedes-Benz logo, the album’s title, the date of the event, and imagery of West’s late-mother were released at the first listening party. A long sleeve t-shirt featuring a cross inside of a Star of David was featured on a t-shirt released at the album’s August 6th listening party. The first t-shirts were available exclusively at the event and proceeds were donated to a charitable organization in Atlanta and the t-shirts for West’s second listening party were released both at the event and online. Shortly after the album’s release, West dropped another merch delivery online in partnership with Balenciaga. Kanye West Merch for his new album, DONDA, can be shopped on StockX here.
Yeezy x GAP Hoodie
Kanye West’s partnership with GAP is already looking like it’s going to be a gigantic hit. The two have only released two apparel items, but both have already become best-sellers on StockX. The Yeezy GAP Hoodie has been a massive hit since its release. Each colorway has racked up thousands of sales since late September with the blue and black colorways selling the most units. Like the jackets, the Yeezy x GAP Hoodie features a distinctly Yeezy shape, delivering an oversized, spacious fit that’s also very cropped. The hoodies are double lined with a thick cotton material, making them very heavy and sometimes difficult to layer over. With the release of the Yeezy x GAP Hoodie, it’s only a matter of time before we see a full collection. Every color of the Yeezy x GAP Hoodie is available on StockX here.
Yeezy GAP Round Jacket
The Yeezy GAP Round Jacket was our first official look at what the GAP and Yeezy apparel partnership is going to offer. The jacket was made available via a pre-order on June 8th, 2021, making it unclear whether or not the larger Yeezy GAP releases will also be delivered via a pre-order method. In terms of pricing, it looks very likely that Kanye West will deliver on his promise of more affordable apparel through this partnership. Yeezy and GAP’s Round Jacket was released at the retail price of $200 USD and for reference, Fear of God Essentials, streetwear’s pinnacle for affordable apparel, sells a similar jacket for the same price. Both the color and shape of this jacket are uniquely Yeezy-inspired, leading us to believe that the larger collection will be as well.
Just over a month after making the Yeezy GAP Round Jacket available for pre-order in the blue colorway, Kanye West surprised fans with a Japan and Europe exclusive black colorway, at least at first. The jacket was first sighted on Yeezy himself just a few days before its preorder opened at Balenciaga’s Spring/Summer 2021 show. Like the Yeezy GAP Round Jacket in blue, this black colorway was also delivered in winter of 2021. While originally believed to be a Japan and EU exclusive colorway, the jacket was eventually opened up to pre-orders in the US later in July.
Two weeks after making the black Round Jacket available in the US, the Yeezy GAP partnership debuted another new colorway of the jacket for pre-order. The red colorway of the Yeezy GAP Round Jacket was first sighted on Kanye West two weeks prior, at his first listening party for his new album, DONDA. Though it was suspected that the jacket would be released after the first listening party, pre-orders for the jacket weren’t opened until after the second event on August 6th. Similarly to the black and blue colorways, the jacket was made available at a retail price of $200.
Buy & Sell the Yeezy GAP Round Jacket in blue, black, and red on StockX here.
adidas Yeezy Calabasas Track Pants
Yeezy and adidas began releasing their branded Calabasas Track Pants in 2017, shortly after the delivery of their Powerphase Calabasas. The pants feature a Calabasas Logo running down the side, surrounded by the adidas three stripes in colorways resembling the Yeezy palette. Their initial 2017 release included just two pairs but in 2018, Kanye West and adidas followed up with another four colorways. While most of these colors are now selling for slightly above retail, some adidas Yeezy Calabasas Track Pants can be found on StockX for below retail. The Umber, Core, and Ink colorways are all currently available for below their retail price.
Kanye West The Life of Pablo Pop-Up Merch
Kanye West’s merchandise for The Life of Pablo was a masterclass in artist merch releases. The drops took place in August, six months after the album was released and just one month ahead of his Saint Pablo World Tour. Merch was released at 21 different pop-up locations around the globe, each featuring its own city specific designs and colorways. Apparel items featured the city their pop-up was housed in on the front and lyrics from The Life of Pablo on the back in Old English lettering. The pop-ups were open for single weekends, though most sold out on the first day. Later in August, certain remaining items were made available online and those sold out nearly immediately as well. Recently, we added every single piece from every single city to the StockX catalog. Check them all out here.
Yeezy Calabasas Apparel
Kanye West’s home neighborhood of Calabasas found itself the fixation of more than one Yeezy collection. Years later, the silhouettes and quality are still as good as when they were first shown but the prices are significantly lower now than they were upon release. Nearly every Yeezy Calabasas item on StockX is available for below retail and some are available for nearly one third of their retail price. The Yeezy Season 4 Calabasas Crewneck in a Scorpio colorway, for instance, retailed at the price of $300 USD and is available on StockX now for close to $100 USD in most sizes. For under $300 USD, the original retail price of the crewneck, you can get this whole look featured on A$AP Nast.
Kids See Ghosts Merch
Two separate merch capsules were released for Kanye West and Kid Cudi’s joint album, Kids See Ghosts. The first merch collection dropped with the album in June of 2018 but it was the second, which was made available at Camp Flog Gnaw later that year, that became iconic. For their Camp Flog Gnaw performance, West and Cudi enlisted the help of Cactus Plant Flea Market to design the festival-exclusive merch. Since their release nearly three years ago, the merch’s resale prices have skyrocketed with some sweatshirts selling for more than $1,000 USD.
Yeezy Socks
If you just have to have all things Kanye West, then you’ve got to get your hands on a pair of Yeezy Bouclette Socks. At surprisingly affordable prices, these socks are easy to justify financially and they’ll work effortlessly into your wardrobe. The Yeezy Bouclette Sock was originally released in October of 2018 and was made available in four different color packs, three of which can be purchased on StockX for less than $25 USD. It’s hard to beat a Yeezy-designed Sock for under $30 bucks.
Kanye West 2020 Vision Double Layered Hoodie
In terms of apparel and merchandise that actually dropped, 2020 was Kanye West’s quietest year since before The Life of Pablo released. While the Yeezy x GAP partnership was officially announced, Kanye West actually released only five apparel pieces, total. All five of these items were released as merch for the artist’s 2020 presidential campaign and four of them are covered in larger campaign graphics. The Kanye West 2020 Vision Double Layered Hoodie is the only piece released by the artist in 2020 to not feature any kind of branding and it’s been pretty popular as a result of that. While not officially a part of the collection, the hoodie features a similar shape and look to leaked Yeezy x GAP hoodies. If you can’t wait any longer to get your hands on the Yeezy x GAP aesthetic, this hoodie is available on StockX here.
Kanye West Ye Merch
2018 was a wild year to be a Kanye West fan. Within the first three months of the year, the artist had firmly engulfed himself in political controversy which was followed closely by the release of five consecutive albums produced by West. Among those five albums was Kanye West’s own Ye, a seven track record featuring hits like “Ghost Town” and “Violent Crimes”. The merch that released alongside the album strayed from his intricate The Life of Pablo drop methods, instead just including a single graphic design released on three hoodies and two t-shirts. The graphics on Kanye West’s Wyoming Merch features Ye’s album cover painted over with the word “WYOMING” which is where the album’s release party took place.
