Whatever your thoughts on the aesthetic of the Yeezy line, it has contributed to making rapper-turned-mogul Kanye West a billionaire. And if you believe the latest report from Wells Fargo, it’s going to make him even more.
According to CNBC, Gap is partnering with West to release a form of the Yeezy line. And Wells Fargo says that the incremental sales of the line will net West close to $1 billion in sales in the first year alone.
“Now that this catalyst is here, the majority of questions we are fielding regarding Gap is around how powerful this partnership with Yeezy could be — which is why we thought it would be helpful to put numbers behind the initiative,” Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.
Part of the bank’s projection has to do with the success of sales like the limited edition blue puffer jacket, which was on sale for a limited time. Even though it retailed for $200, it sold out pretty quickly. Today, the blue puffer jacket sells for over $1,000 on some clothing resale sites and even on eBay — and all this when the first batch of items haven’t even shipped yet.
“Among the Gap customers, 64% indicated they planned to buy items from the collaboration. On average, they expected to spend an incremental $178 on Yeezy products in the first year of the line’s debut. Of the people who currently don’t shop at Gap, 23% said they intended to buy the merchandise and expected to shell out an incremental $126 at Gap,” reports CNBC.
Additionally, those who shop at Gap are going to be shopping for other products besides the Yeezy products, which is another part of the reason the projections are so high.
Gap is ultimately hoping that this new partnership with West will bring in a whole new client base, and based on these initial projections, this hope is proving to be well-founded.
