Kanye West, who is closely tied to Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia, recently opened the label’s runway show during Paris Fashion Week
Balenciaga is cutting ties with Kanye West.
On Friday, the French fashion label and its parent company Kering announced that it’ll be ending its working relationship with the Donda artist following multiple problematic statements made by West, 45, in recent weeks.
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering said in a statement obtained by Women’s Wear Daily.
Earlier this month West, who legally changed his name to Ye last October, appeared at his Yeezy Season 9 Paris Fashion Week show donning a long-sleeve shirt printed with the phrase “White Lives Matter,” which is considered a “hate slogan” by the Anti-Defamation League.
Despite its backlash, he continued to defend the fashion choice during an interview on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, saying, “I do certain things from a feeling, I just channel the energy. It just feels right. It’s using a gut instinct, a connection with God, and just brilliance.”
West has also publicly partaken in harmful antisemitic rhetoric (condemned by stars including John Legend, Lizzo, Jack Antonoff), false claims pertaining to the death of George Floyd and online bullying towards Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson.
Over the years, Ye has fostered a close relationship with Balenciaga’s creative director Demna Gvasalia.
Earlier this month, the 24-time Grammy winner made his runway debut opening the label’s spring/summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week.
However, in what appears to be a now-deleted Instagram post, West’s look has been deleted from Vogue Runway and the Balenciaga website as part of the house’s break away from the performer, according to Rolling Stone.
The brand has also removed a section dedicated to its three Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collaborations which launched in January and the pieces are no longer available on online retailers, the publication additionally reports.
Balenciaga was also heavily threaded into West’s relationship with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, who’s since become one of the poster stars for the brand on and off the runway with the help of the producer’s connections.
“It was Kanye who introduced Kim to Demna and was instrumental in the newly formed relationship between her and Balenciaga,” a source told PEOPLE last September following the mogul’s appearance at the 2021 Met Gala, during which she wore a headline-making, full black body stocking designed by Gvasalia.
“This look on Kim is like a new subculture and fashion statement,” the source continued. “No logo, no face, but everyone knows it’s her. Kanye gave her the courage to push creativity and people’s imagination through art. It’s the ultimate confidence.”
Balenciaga is not the first brand to be removed from West’s fashion repertoire.
In September, he ended the deal between his Yeezy label and Gap after a two-year run. Attorneys for the “Bound 2” rapper notified Gap that YEEZY LLC is terminating their partnership in a letter that accused the retail giant of breaking their agreement by not releasing apparel or opening planned retail stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.
YEEZY and Gap’s attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
West’s multi-year collaboration with Adidas, which started in 2016, is also under review following a dispute between himself and the brand, beginning with the release of the Adilette 22 sandals, which bear resemblance to West’s Yeezy slides.
West has more than once called out Adidas executives and the brand on social media, but Adidas has yet to respond to West’s claims.
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