Explained: What is Kanye West's unpaid fashion rental lawsuit all about?

YE, formerly known as Kanye West, is facing a lawsuit from a high-end fashion rental service. According to The David Casavant Archive, Ye owed this rare rental fashion firm more than $400,000 in unpaid fees and had failed to return more than a dozen rare and valuable fashion pieces.

The plaintiff, David Casavant, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles court on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, against YE (previously known as Kanye West) and his label, YEEZY APPAREL, LLC, a California limited liability company. The complaint was filed for breach of oral contract, conversion, and unjust enrichment.

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More about David Casavant LLC's lawsuit against Kanye West for $416,910

David Casavant LLC's lawsuit against Kanye West for more than $400,000 (Image via @kanyewestaurant / Instagram)

David Casavant is one of the leading stylists who founded and owns the David Casavant Archive (hereinafter "the Archive"). According to the lawsuit filed, the label has often loaned its pieces to exclusive clientele such as Kanye West's former wife, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Tom Brady, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and Paul McCartney. The lawsuit says:

"Because each item in the Archive is unique and part of a greater collection, the whole being more valuable than the sum of its parts, Plaintiff does not offer to sell individual items to clients."

According to the lawsuit filed against the defendant, Kanye West and his label, Yeezy Apparel, have often rented items from the Archive. Ye started renting out from Casavant Archive since 2015, for both professional engagements and personal wear. Ye rented these items out through Yeezy Apparel LLC. The lawsuit reads:

"Plaintiff memorialized every one of these rental agreements, entered into orally, with invoices identifying the items rented, the duration of the rental, the rental rate for each item, and the replacement cost for each item."

Although Kanye West used to pay his rent on time, he has tried to prolong the rental period time for a few selected items. When the rental period was extended, he was charged the same weekly rental rate as mentioned on the bill.

In case the item was lost by Kanye West, he would have to pay a replacement fee as written in the invoice in addition to the rental fee for the period of the rental agreement. The agreement was orally and in writing approved by all the involved parties. The lawsuit reads:

"All parties understood that because the garments are not commodities that are easily replaceable, the rental fees compensate Plaintiff for the loss of future rentals, loan opportunities and press from these garments when they are lost."

The contract was understood and complied with before October 2020. According to the plaintiff, Ye rented 49 fashion items from the Archive between February 19, 2020 to February 26, 2020 for a one-week rental term.

Out of those 49 items, Ye returned 36 items back to the Archieve in March and paid the rental fee of all 49 items. However, he kept the remaining 13 items to himself and continued to pay the weekly rental fee of those items till October 29, 2020.

However, he stopped paying the rent for those 13 items from October 30, 2020, up until July 5, 2022. Despite Casavant's multiple rental invoices sent to Kanye, he has not responded to any calls, emails, or paid the amount.

The invoice of all 49 items loaned by Kanye West in 2020 (Image via Lawsuit complaint / Digital Music)

The weekly rent for those 13 (identified as item numbers 6, 10, 11, 13, 21, 22, 25, 30, 33, 40, 41, 42, and 46 in the invoice) items amounts to $2,705 per week, and Ye has missed the rent for 82 weeks, which totals $221,810 in outstanding rental fees.

In addition to the rental fee, if Ye has lost those 13 items completely, he needs to pay full replacement fees for all 13 items, which totals $195,100.

According to the lawsuit, Ye will now have to pay the amount of $416,910, which is the total amount of damage, which is still ongoing and increasing.