Gap’s Urban Pastoral Takes Tokyo

Gap creative director Patrick Robinson took a push-pull approach for the global debut of his Spring 2010 collection yesterday in Tokyo, offering a mixed-up pastoral look set against this high-tech metropolis. “In summer you want to see something green. You want to escape,” Robinson explained during the presentation. “So I just made fun of that. I made these urban gardeners.” Since Robinson took the reins in 2007, Gap’s Spring show has hopped around on a world tour that’s made its way to Tokyo via New York two years ago and London last season. On each stop, the designer tries to reflect a sense of place.

For the Tokyo show, staged in the hip Omotesando district, he described the collection as having an urban eclectic DIY element. The look here revolved around three main stories: the virginal, featuring loads of pale denim paired with wispy vintage-inspired broderie anglaise pieces; the ultra-layered gardener, consisting of mismatched florals and washed out plaids over khakis; and finally, the folkster, with flowing scarves, khaki jackets, and patchworked denim. Nude and navy platform espadrilles and floral-accented deck shoes by Pierre Hardy kept all three looks grounded. “For Fall this will totally change. Everyone goes back to work,” Robinson remarked. But oh, to keep making daisy chains forever.