Meet the Nigerian Designer Behind The GAP YEEZY Collaboration

Ahead of the arrival of its quarterly reports on May 27, Gap has hinted at more details about its upcoming YEEZY line. 

For years, Kanye West has been adamant about his mission to outfit as many people as possible in his designs. 

Gap has previously stated the financial importance of the collaboration, with Kanye West‘s YEEZY since the brand has had a rocky year being forced to close 225 stores in August — before announcing more closures and more losses at the end of the year. 

As for who Mr. West is betting on, that would be Mowalola Ogunlesi, the 25-year old Nigeria-born, London-based designer, who will serve as design director for the Yeezy Gap venture.

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A graduate of Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts in London, Ogunlesi debuted her menswear collection in London by way of the Fashion East organization in 2019, swiftly building up big-name fans, such as Naomi Campbell, Drake, Solange, and Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, and fashion industry praise in the process.

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Vogue has described her designs, which are often dominated by eye-popping colors, treated leathers, and spray-painted patterns, as the type of “vibrant menswear that defies conventions,” saying that her “magpie eye combines the very best parts of nightlife culture across both London and her hometown” of Lagos, Nigeria.

As the arrival of Gap YEEZY approaches, keep an eye out for more details about the partnership and its official reveal.

Mr. West, who worked at a Gap in his teens, has expressed deep interest in the brand for years, declaring in an interview that he would “like to be the Steve Jobs of the Gap,” and once dreamed of being its head creative director. He has visited its San Francisco headquarters and met with Art Peck, Gap Inc.’s former chief executive.

The Gap deal will fulfill a desire of Mr. West’s to make clothing for the masses, even as Yeezy has become a presence at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks.