Our First Peek at Kanye's Gap Collection Has Finally Arrived

Since the announcement of Kanye West's collaboration with Gap, style aficionados have been anticipating what the musical and fashion genius would whip up for his newest clothing venture. The partnership has had a rocky start to say the least, including West's controversial presidential run, divorce from wife Kim and fellow Black designer, Telfar, losing his own Gap deal around the same time the collab with Kanye was announced. To be honest, the "celebrity" aspect and antics of it all started to take away from the focus on what Kanye would produce regarding the actual clothing; it was "too much."

However, when the first piece from the collection dropped on June 8th, it was clear the focus remained on the fashion. Kanye and Gap gave customers a sneak peek of the pieces to come, releasing an image of a bright blue, round puffer jacket, which is available for pre-order and will subsequently ship in the fall. In fact, the release of the entire first collection for the line has been pushed back to the end of the year. While initial reviews on the jacket have been mixed (I too am unsure if I will be adding it to my wardrobe), it has received A LOT of attention, undoubtedly due to Kanye's understanding of how to sell a product.

West, at this point, is a marketing master and, above all, understands that he can push his product better than anyone else. As such, he has been seen on what we can call the "puffy blue jacket tour," not-so-coincidentally wearing the piece out-and-about recently in Los Angeles. In addition, images of the jacket have been projected onto buildings in major cities like New York and Chicago. While exact release dates for the full collection have yet to be announced, it is clear that Kanye is already getting his followers hyped (and ready to spend) once it drops.