Style
Kanye West’s shiny red Yeezy Gap ‘Round’ jacket can now be yours
As seen at his first 'Donda' listening party.
The Yeezy Gap line is continuing to grow with nothing but eerily shiny jackets. Pre-orders have now opened for the red “Round Jacket” that Kanye West wore during his first Donda listening party (and apparently continued to wear as he stalked the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta).
West’s previous two puffer jackets were already difficult to miss because of the sheen created by a rubberized polyurethane coating, but the new red version may just be the most prominent of them all. The statement piece also harkens back to the Air Yeezy 2 “Red October,” which inspired countless imitations of its all-red color scheme.
In a continued trend toward democracy, the red Round Jacket is available to pre-order without any limitations on the numbers that’ll be made. Everyone who wants to shell out $200 for a winter coat that looks like a slip ‘n slide can, the only caveat being that delivery won’t begin until Spring 2022.
These jackets print money — According to former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler, the first two releases for the Round Jacket brought in $7 million each. Despite instantly proving just how lucrative it is to collaborate with West, Drexler still believes the partnership is a bad idea for both parties involved. Long-term, he doesn’t think the corporate setting will work for West — and we might already be seeing what he means with Kanye’s other corporate partner, Adidas.
West has been spotted wearing Nike several times during the last month, in addition to featuring its shoes prominently in a Donda and Beats commercial that aired during the NBA Finals. Not wearing clothing from your business partner’s greatest rival should be easy when you’re netting $191 million a year, but this form of rebellion shows just how unpredictable (and risky) West can be.
Whether or not West ends up nuking his Adidas deal remains to be seen, and for now his Gap partnership is swimming along just fine with the sustained rollout of garbage bag jackets.