Sources close to the Ivy Park situation claim Adidas has reportedly started the process of unbundling its business with megastar Beyonce.
Adidas and ‘Ivy Park by Beyonce’ reportedly part ways
According to The Hollywood Reporter, talks are already underway to amicably end a five-year partnership between the German lifestyle brand and the Renaissance star.
Details on the deal remain sketchy. However, insiders with intimate knowledge of the singer’s business dealings claim she is ready to chart her own path with ultimate creative freedom of her activewear brand.
In February 2023, documents seen by the Wall Street Journal showed how Ivy Park sales projections had plummeted 84% against actual revenue in 2022.
While Adidas had projected $250 million (est. R4.5 billion) in Ivy Park sales for 2022, Beyonce’s activewear line only managed to collect an estimated $40 million (est. R724 million).
In 2023, early projections showed Ivy Park may collect $63 million, a massive drop from initial calculations that suggested the brand would attract more than $335 million in revenue.
According to reports, Adidas’ new management, headed by CEO Bjørn Gulden, will likely scrap its deal with Ivy Park when the contract expires at the end of 2023.
The German brand, however, is still in limbo with more than $1.3 billion of Yeezy stock unsold due to tensions with the line’s creator, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West).
In early March, Gulden made inferences of a possible rekindling between the brand and Ye, following an intense breakup caused by the rapper’s antisemitic rants from late 2022.
Careful not to reveal too many details about reported talks with Ye, Gulden assured investors that Adidas will reach finality on its Yeezy blunder without compromising the brand’s ethical codes.
“If we sell it, I promise that the people who have been hurt by this will also get something good out of this,” he said at the time.
