Ye Does His Craziest Thing Yet: Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga

Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga delivers a vision of utilitarian design for all. Presenting stealth street style silhouettes, the collaborative collection confronts fashion with an anonymous vision of dressing. 

Since the first release in June 2022, Yeezy Gap items have grown in popularity and demand. For the second instalment, Kanye West (Ye), Balenciaga’s Demna, and the American fashion brand GAP, have once again weaved together functional high fashion with signature clothing styles. Football jerseys are seen draped over hip and shoulder-high boots, denim jackets are elevated with sharp, runway-worthy shoulders, and everyday accessories like gloves and bags, are volumized to couture-like proportions.

The warped imagery published online this week magnifies the brand’s eccentric design ethos. Captured by Berlin-based artist Kristina Nagel, with direction from British creative Betsy Johnson – both associated with the house of Balenciaga – the subversive nine-image ensemble sees models’ bodies and faces warped, stretched, chopped and blurred. Featured items include oversized sports bags, space boots, and an ankle-length boiler suit, with a sheen finish and winged sleeves: a biohazard uniform marked with Yeezy Gap patch branding. 

What are these utilitarian clothes protecting us from though? With imagery and sleek black material referencing garbage bags, is the collection shedding light on the world’s war on waste? Or do the face-obscuring designs offer us an opportunity to cloak and conceal from our culture of oversharing? No matter the means, Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga still seeks to bring affordable streetwear and nonconformist aesthetics to the luxury space. The viral approach closes the gap between the unattainable and the everyday. 

Words by Rachel Weinberg