Kanye West Criticized For Selling Yeezy Gap Clothes Out of Trash Bags
Fashion

Kanye West Criticized For Selling Yeezy Gap Clothes Out of Trash Bags

Kanye West is catching heat for his latest merchandising tactic.

The backlash began this past Monday when a Twitter user posted a photo of three large, black sacks resembling trash bags, which were apparently "how they are selling Yeezy GAP."

"The sales associate said Ye got mad when he saw they had it on hangers and this is how he wanted it," they revealed, before alleging that Gap employees "won’t help you find ur size too."

The Twitter user added, "you just have to just dig through everything."

Naturally, the rapper and designer's decision to display his relatively expensive merchandise in this way elicited a ton of criticism online, as thousands commented on both the absurdity of "fishing a $240 hoodie out of a garbage bag" and comparing it to a "Goodwill outlet without the quality."

Not only that, but given that Ye recently said to "look to the homeless as the biggest inspiration for all design," some saw the trash bags as evidence of his continued "fetishization" of the homeless, with others reminding people that Balenciaga — who also caught heat earlier this year with their "distressed" $1,850 Paris shoes — was an integral part of the project as well.

"it’s everything that is wrong with billionaires," as one critic wrote, before adding, "they no longer see the plight of people, they don’t see humans that are suffering, they see opportunities to be 'edgy' and profit from it…it’s disgusting."

Meanwhile, others theorized that the trash bags had to "be a social experiment," with a second commenter agreeing by saying he "couldn't imagine paying $200 for basic clothes out of a bag on the floor" and that Ye "exploits [rich kids and hypebeasts'] vanity to build his empire."

"It’s like he wants people to look thirsty af searching for their size. Idgi," as another wrote. "This irks my visual merchandising brain to its last nerve cuz imo the shopping experience should be enjoyable not hectic and demeaning. I see the vision but the vision is dehumanizing."

Despite the controversy though, there were still a handful of diehard fans who did come to Ye's defense, arguing that he was just making the consumer experience "fun and different" by "changing things up," which another person responded to with a sarcastic "yeah looks really fun digging through a giant pile of clothes. laundry is so fun." After all, who doesn't love sorting their whites?

Ye has yet to respond to the backlash.

Photo via Getty / Edward Berthelot

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