A clothing agent in Turkey claims that she was cheated out of her agreed upon commission to manufacture and distribute the Yeezy fashion line. Now, Derya Gulseven is suing Kanye West and West Brands over the payment dispute.
Gulseven alleges that she was hired by West Brands Fashion LLC on order to find manufacturers in Istanbul, Turkey that would produce the items season by season and distribute them to the United States. Gulseven claims she was cheated out of her agreed upon 7% commission on more than one occasion and now she is suing for the total amount owed as well as damages.
According to the lawsuit, Gulseven assisted with clothing production for Yeezy Season 2 in 2015. The deal was abandoned just two months before the delivery date on May 2016, with agreements made between the manufacturer and West brands, cutting Gulseven out of her commission, which totaled $87K for an order that was a little over $1.25M.
Gulseven worked on Yeezy Season 3, even after getting beat out of her earnings, which only prompted the West brands to slash her commission percentage from 7% to 4%, receiving only $77,250 of her previously expected $169,000.
Despite the two previous occurrences, Gulseven again delivered for Yeezy Season 4, but this time, she claims she didn’t receive any payment for her efforts.
Gulseven is now demanding West Brands executives pay everything she is owed, listed as $228K plus punitive damages.
West’s representatives have yet to respond to the lawsuit.
