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Kanye West has a lot on his schedule this week but as soon as he heard about the tragic events that occurred at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Ye decided to pause his long-awaited release of his latest Yeezy GAP collaboration.
On Wednesday, May 25, Ye released a statement in regards to his Yeezy GAP engineered by Balenciaga collection. The rapper's team said that the launch will be postponed out of respect to the young victims of the Uvalde mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. He decided to reschedule the launch for Friday, May 27.
“In light of the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, we are postponing the Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga launch until Friday, May 27,” the statement said. “As we pause, our hearts go out to the families and communities impacted.”
Kanye West has been preparing for the launch for months by rocking numerous garments from the collection, which was designed by Ye with assistance from Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia. The collection will include t-shits, hoodies, jeans, denim jackets, gloves, masks and high-top boots. T-shirts will reportedly start at $140 with hoodies running up to $240.
In addition to wearing pieces of the collection himself, Ye also previewed his new clothing line in his latest music video for "Life of the Party." The Chicago native celebrated Mother's Day by releasing the official music video for the song off the deluxe version of his Donda album. The video brings classic photos of Ye, his late mother Donda and others to life. The images were also updated to make it look like they were wearing pieces from the collection.
Ye is one of several artists to speak out and make drastic moves in order to honor the victims of the mass shooting. Houston native Trae Tha Truth said he passed on a visit to the White House to provide assistance to those in his home state in the aftermath of the tragedy.