33 posts tagged "Gap"
McQ To Hit The London Runways, Sasha Pivovarova For Gap, A New Alaïa Exhibiton, And More…
Alexander McQueen’s younger label, McQ, will show for the first time at London fashion week next year. The brand also announced its first standalone store, set to open on London’s Dover Street. [Telegraph]
Model Sasha Pivovarova has designed a sleepwear collection for Gap. Launching at stores in the U.K. December 1, the collection includes camisoles, nightdresses, boy shorts, and underwear sets. [Vogue U.K.]
To kick off Tel Aviv fashion week, Roberto Cavalli brought his Spring 2012 collection to Israel. Tel Aviv’s first fashion week in over 30 years is being held “in cooperation with Italy”—Milan and Tel Aviv are sister cities. [Huff Po]
The Groninger Museum in the Netherlands is hosting its second Azzedine Alaïa exhibition. The “semi-retrospective,” launching December 6, will showcase the designer’s most iconic pieces since the turn of the last century. [Hint]
Dazed & Gap
Gap T-shirts just got a lot edgier, thanks to the new Cover Versions project by Dazed & Confused. In celebration of the magazine’s 20th anniversary issue, Gap produced five limited-edition tees featuring funky, reinterpreted versions of original Dazed covers by artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Marnie Weber, Dennis Rudolph, Mark Titchner, and Neal Fox. For the actual Cover Versions exhibition, a total of 20 artists sorted through the mag’s archives and reimagined some of its already not-so-typical issues, with famous cover stars like Kate Moss, Milla Jovovich, Damien Hirst, and Eminem.
The cover boys and girls of the October anniversary issue are Riccardo Tisci (who guest-art-directed the issue) and his muses, Mariacarla Boscono and Saskia de Brauw. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a T-shirt for that one just yet.
T-shirts are now available for pre-order at Colette.
Gap’s 1969 Gets A New Home In L.A.
L.A. is the nerve center for 1969, Gap’s denim-and-more label, and its denim design team invited editors to its new Los Angeles studio to preview what’s to come for fall. “We’re taking denim further than just your blue jeans,” a member of the design team explained of the unexpectedly rich fabrications on display. Evolved from the seven core fits that the line launched with back in 2009, the pieces are going into mostly-uncharted territory for the mega-brand: prints in snake, cheetah, and leopard patterns. Even Gap’s most signature fits have gotten an update in the form of rich detailing, including a now signature X-stitch, to delineate the line from the chain’s other merchandise. Saturated hues permeate the collection in the form of skinny sateen ankle Audrey pants (named for Hepburn, of course), and leather pants come in cropped, drop-crotch, and skinny fits. “It all starts with the fabric, and then you can get these great fits and proportions,” echoed 1969′s creative director, Rosella Giuliani. She was referring to ponte knits (championed for their stretch and recovery) and her leathers, which feature a forgiving stretch.
Where Gap Should Look For Its Next Designer: In House?
News broke this morning that the Gap and longtime creative director Patrick Robinson (left) are parting ways. Robinson, an alum of Paco Rabanne, Perry Ellis, and Anne Klein, was brought in in 2007 to revamp the retailer’s offerings and revive interest in the brand. Sales numbers suggest that mission didn’t quite succeed—even if, as Gap’s presentations showed, there were some hits. And so the label begins to search for a successor, making it the latest in long line of high-profile companies with a vacancy at the top.
But there’s one section of the company whose designs have been consistently strong: GapKids. As the mothers on our staff can attest, the children’s stores have an energy that’s been missing from the adult’s—and, some say, a keener eye on trends, even readily translatable adult trends, than you can find at Gap. The Stella McCartney GapKids collection famously found more than a few fans among moms and adults in the largest sizes; and while few are likely to fit into GapKids’ own colored jeans and tutu skirts, we know some who make runs for Saint James-style striped tees and denim jackets. “The kids department is fun,” said one insider we spoke to. “When you walk into Gap, it’s beige, white, black, taupe.”
Bringing some of the vitality of GapKids to the adult sector might, we think, be just what the retailer needs. And it seems to be taking a step in that direction. Women’s Wear Daily reports that Pam Wallack, head of the Gap Global Creative Center, has tapped Jennifer Giangualano, its SVP of kids and baby design, “to provide leadership and direction on adult design,” while the label hunts for Robinson’s replacement. Should they call off the search?
At Home With A Gap Guru, Topshop Loves Love, And More…
Tired of envying your neighbor’s closet? Take a break and envy her whole apartment, instead. Refinery29 takes a peek inside the Brooklyn digs of Jane Herman, Gap’s director of concept. We shall not covet… [Refinery29]
Pamela Love will join forces with Topshop for her first-ever retailer collaboration; a range of Love’s America-inspired jewels for the Brit chain will debut in April. (A look from Love’s Fall 2011 collection is at left.) [Fashionologie]
And it’s now Dr. Bailey to you (and all of us)—Burberry’s Christopher Bailey has been presented with an honorary doctorate by Yorkshire’s Sheffield Hallam University. [WWD]