Kanye West and Candice Swanepoel. Kamil Zihnioglu/AP/Shutterstock; Kristina Bumphrey/Shutterstock
Love is in the air? Kanye West has sparked dating speculation after hanging out with model Candice Swanepoel during New York Fashion Week.
West, 45, and Swanepoel, 33, were spotted at an event on Tuesday, September 13, for his Yeezy GAP sunglasses — which the Victoria’s Secret Angel has modeled. Two days later, the South Africa native shared an Instagram photo of her and the rapper behind some blurred-out glass.
After West reposted the pic on his social media, eagle-eyed followers were quick to question if there was something more between the pair.
Swanepoel, for her part, previously worked with the Yeezy designer’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian. Earlier this year, the philanthropist joined Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Tyra Banks and Kardashian, 41, for a Skims campaign.
West exchanged vows with the reality star in 2014 after several years of dating. Kardashian, who shares kids North, 9, Saint, 6, Chicago, 4 and Psalm, 3, with the musician, filed for divorce in February 2021 after nearly seven years of marriage.
The California native later admitted she was struggling before she made the decision to pull the plug. “I just honestly can’t do this anymore. Why am I still in this place where I’m stuck for years?” she said during an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in June 2021. “I feel like a f–king failure. It’s my third f–king marriage. Yeah, I feel like a f–king loser. But I can’t even think about that. I want to be happy.”
Later that year, Kardashian moved on with Pete Davidson after they worked together on the set of Saturday Night Live. Us Weekly confirmed in August that the pair called it quits after nine months of dating.
West, for his part, briefly dated Irina Shayk amid his divorce. He was also recently linked to Julia Fox and Chaney Jones. Ahead of the Illinois native’s outing with Swanepoel, Fox, 32, opened up about her decision to end their relationship.
“The unresolved issues that he was dealing with … it just seems like he had a lot to work on, and I just don’t have time for it, or energy,” the Uncut Gems actress told ES magazine on Wednesday, September 14. “I don’t have the bandwidth or emotional capacity for it. I’m proud of myself for that. [Before having my son, Valentino, I] would have definitely stuck it out and been there for longer.”
Fox, who dated West earlier this year, noted that her ex-boyfriend’s highly publicized divorce was a major reason why they split. “It was just like, he still wants to hang out with me today, let’s do it,” she added. “And then real life set in and the lifestyle wasn’t sustainable. I couldn’t fly away once a week. And I tapped out at the first sign of a red flag.”