Kanye West designed Yeezy Gap engineered by Balenciaga gives dark and brooding first look

The dark and brooding first look of Kanye West’s Yeezy Gap collaboration engineered by Balenciaga was released on Wednesday.

Designs made by the 44-year-old artist were posted on Gap’s Instagram on Wednesday as the collection had a bit of a shadowy undertone.

Kanye and estranged wife Kim Kardashian are good friends with Georgian fashion designer Demna Gvasalia who is creative director of Balenciaga as his influence can definitely be seen in the collection.

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Not a single inch of the models skin could be seen as they were all completely covered up including black full face balaclava reminiscent of the 41-year-old reality star’s look at last year’s Met Gala.

Some of the pieces included oversized parkas, anoraks, and even jumpsuits.

No doubt some of the most sought-after items will be hoodies and T-Shirts which have the iconic Gap block lettering on the front and and image of a dove printed on the back.

In January, he announced the campaign, titled Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga, which was followed days later by his Heaven And Hell video, which he premiered during the College Football National Championship Game, which was broadcast on ESPN. 

‘It is a vision come true to work with Gap and Demna, the creative director of Balenciaga, to make incredible product available to everyone at all times,’ the Flashing Lights hitmaker told Vogue after announcing the deal on Instagram.

The collaboration is expected to drop in June release with a second set of releases coming later in 2022, and the video featured several masked figures wearing black hoodies that are part of West’s Gap collaboration.

Some items including the hoodies, shirts, and denim are currently available for preorder on the Yeezy Gap website.

This comes just a week after Ye  admitted that he had ‘bittersweet’ feelings about his estranged wife Kim’s new Balenciaga campaign in an Instagram post from Thursday.

The rapper shared a photo from Manhattan’s Times Square showing several billboards featuring a monumental Kardashian in various outfits from the Spanish fashion house, though he deleted it about an hour later.

Kanye also added that the display was ‘awesome,’ making his post a rare positive note involving his ex amid a bevy of posts mocking her boyfriend Pete Davidson and revealing what appear to be her private communications with the hitmaker.  

The exes both have a complicated relationship with Balenciaga, as Kardashian has become a face of the brand, while West is also an avid wearer of its clothing and last month announced a collaboration with the brand for his ongoing Gap line.

The photo West posted shows previously released images of his ex in a long leopard-print coat over a black bodysuit and edgy black leather boots decorated with several buckles.

Another billboard showed her reclining on a sofa in a black bodysuit with tall black boots and a busy lime green handbag. 

The reality star was also seen standing in a hallway wearing a black coat and carrying a white bag in another image.

The photos were taken by photographer Stef Mitchell at Kardashian’s home in Calabasas, which she used to share with her estranged husband.

‘This Balenciaga campaign premiered in Time Square today. I know ya’ll can understand that this is bitter sweet for me,’ he wrote in his caption, adding, ‘This is awesome. All positive energy.’

It wasn’t clear from the campaign the more-positive tail end of his caption was wishing ‘positive energy’ for his ex, or the fashion house that he has partnered with. 

 Both West and Kardashian have long been fans of Balenciaga and have worn the fashion house’s edgy designs, but their relationship intensified last year, even after the Keeping up With The Kardashians star filed for divorced in January 2021.

Kim subsequently wore a striking black bodysuit with a complete facial covering from the brand to The Met Gala in September, and she wore a hot pink Balenciaga suit when she host Saturday Night Live in October.

Since then, both have continued to rep that fashion house, and Kanye even dressed his ex-girlfriend Julia Fox in its designs.

West’s possibly warm comment about his ex comes as he continues to share mocking posts about her boyfriend Pete Davidson on Instagram, along with posts apparently revealing his private conversations with her. 

The Monster rapper recently appeared to have reached a turning point when he admitted in a since-deleted post that his behavior toward his ex had been ‘harassing,’ while he also vowed to ‘take accountability.’

Those words appear to have been soon forgotten, as the hitmaker returned to attacking Pete on social media.

On Thursday, he posted a shot of the comedian wearing a red ‘Make Kanye 2006 Again’ hat modeled off the MAGA hat that he wore to signal his support for former President Donald Trump.

In the original Weekend Update comedy skit, Pete also poked fun at Kanye being ‘off his meds.’ 

‘HI SKETE YOU GOT ANYMORE MENTAL HEALTH JOKES FOR ME?’ the rapper — who suffers from bipolar disorder — captioned his antagonistic post.

Kanye subsequently posted a photo of SNL creator Lorne Michaels, suggesting he was ‘Next up’ for mocking, as well as a post criticizing gossip blogger Perez Hilton.

‘Perez I got a question directly for you Do you find jokes about mental health funny?’ he wrote, before deleting his entire feed.

But he was back to posting later on Thursday, and he included a new Perez post, this time referring to him by his birth name, Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. 

Pete made a return to Instagram on Wednesday after time away from the platform, and fans were surprised to see that Kanye had followed his account, despite the constant attacks and mocking posts. 

Pete and Kim have been dating since November of last year, shortly after they appeared together during her hosting debut on SNL in October.

During that episode, they appeared to share their first kiss in a sketch inspired by Disney’s Aladdin. 

Kim had previously filed for divorce from Kanye in February 2021, after nearly seven years of marriage.

Amid Kanye’s recent posts was an apparent screenshot of a text message from Kim criticizing him for his repeated attack on Pete, which she worried could escalate to violence.

She told her ex that he was ‘creating a dangerous and scary environment and someone will hurt Pete and this will be all your fault,’ later adding, ‘There are dangerous people out there and this is scary and it doesn’t have to be.’ 

But he didn’t seem to care, as he continued escalating the situation by sharing a screenshot of a text in which Kim sounded exasperated as she asked why he couldn’t keep their conversations private.

In February 2021, Kardashian filed for divorce from West after nearly seven-years of marriage. The former couple share four children: North, eight, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, two.