Good morning, Monday. The market is all aflutter and it's humid outside and it's the beginning of the work week and all feels, well, a bit unhinged for some reason. Everybody needs to take a bit of a chill pill. It's all going to be ok.
So, I read with interest this article on how the Gap's CEO has finally figured out that the key to moving forward with the brand is to make the product better. INSERT HUGE SIGH HERE.ABOUT. TIME.
As someone who's been a super fan of the Gap for years (and then alas not), I am so happy that this is finally getting through to the upper management over there. You can hire cool ad agencies, use cool celebrities, and even use cool designers, but at the end of the very long day- IT SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT THE CLOTHES. If the clothes are not good, there is no brand. I have worked on this brand in the ad capacity and all I can say is you can have the best models, photographers, stylists, and creative directors but if the clothes are bad, you ain't got much. Season after season, the clothes have failed to wow consumers. Regardless of its card carrying status as a great American brand, the brand should first and foremost be about the clothes aka the product.
Because what I used to love about the Gap were the clothes. Sure I loved the ad campaigns of swinging khakis and Kerouac. But what I really plugged into were the clothes. They were great and democratic and wholly American in their casual coolness. I've talked at length about the influence of Sharon Stone wearing that Gap tee with a Vera Wang ball skirt because I'll never forget it- it was an iconic moment for an iconic brand and showed the universal appeal of a simple tee shirt, worn however you wanted- formal or otherwise.
And as much as forecasters talk about the Gap's need to embrace fast fashion due to huge trend turnarounds and the success of brands like H&M, I find myself disagreeing somewhat. What the Gap did best was transcend fast fashion, even though it was always a part of it largely because of the great price point and its mass appeal. What the Gap did best and can do best again is create great basics we all want to live in, breathe in, and party in. The pieces that go from office to dinner to home to work/life and back again.
So without further adieu, I think the Gap needs to re-enter our DNA and figure out what makes us tick as consumers and followers and leaders of fashion and style.
To me, there's some basic archetypes that define women's fashion today (minimalist, geek chic, downtown cool, a bit of boho)- and surely they cross over to menswear as well, which brings me to another point- gender blur is going to figure very heavily in fashion very, very soon. I think clothes that speak to a more gender neutral place are going to be huge, not to mention age neutral. I think Gap's values should be in line with our values as not only fashion lovers, but Americans- in a time of so much change, let's have some clothes that fit us.
Being neutral does not mean being boring by the way- it just means embracing an aesthetic that can be worn by many and owned by each of us, with liberty and justice for all. It's not about normcore at all, it's simply about the new normal and how that plays into our wardrobe choices.
Call it my American optimism, I for one am looking forward to what they do next, because I remember when they were great. New beginnings and starting from scratch are exciting for a brand like the Gap- but maybe take some of where we were and reinvent for where we are.
Cause that's what's up this brand value of a Monday in the 212. Yours, in basic instincts. What do you think they need to succeed? XO