Why Gap Is Going Premium

A year and a half into its turnaround, Gap is undertaking its most ambitious project yet: a new label.

On Thursday, the brand will launch the first full GapStudio collection, a premium line that aims to translate for the masses some of the red carpet energy Zac Posen has brought to the brand since his appointment as Gap Inc. creative director early last year. The 24 styles include bubble skirts, corset tops and other looks that are meant to feel more fashion-forward than Gap’s typical basics.

At $80 to $250, they’ll be sold at a more upscale price point as well. In dipping a toe into the category above mass fashion, Gap is looking to compete with the likes of J.Crew, Inditex’s Massimo Dutti and H&M’s elevated sister brand, Cos.

The official launch of the line — GapStudio released an inaugural capsule collection for holiday 2024 — comes on the heels of a remarkable year for the Gap Inc. group, which also owns Old Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic. In the fiscal year ending Feb. 1, comparable sales grew in every quarter.

But Gap Inc. still has a long way to go. Its net sales of $15.1 billion last year lags behind the $16.4 billion the company generated a decade prior, when it was already struggling to adapt to shifting market forces, including fast fashion competition from Zara and H&M, and more recently, Shein and Temu.

GapStudio is in some ways an answer to the challenge posed by those rivals. Designed and developed by Posen, GapStudio will also house his special projects for celebrities and red carpet dressing, such as the satin two-piece set for actor Timothée Chalamet on his Oscars press tour last month and a viral shirtdress Posen designed for Anne Hathaway last summer.

During a tour of the new GapStudio atelier in New York last week, Posen said it was that look that led to the creation of the new line.

“Within two weeks of her wearing the dress, we’d sold out of it, and I posed this amazing question that [Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson] often asks, which is ‘What if? Why not?‘” Posen said.

“What if we built a hub for creativity in our headquarters, a place where we could use our artisanal skillsets to create one-of-a-kind cultural moments?” Posen added. “And what if this could also be a capsule collection that added a style elevation to the existing line that was still accessible in price point?”

In building the new atelier, Posen hired some members of his team at his namesake brand, which was dissolved in 2019, including his former sewer and pattern-maker with whom he had worked for more than a decade.

Filling in the Gaps

GapStudio is a continuation of Dickson’s steady turnaround strategy centred around cultural relevance — one that added some badly needed buzz to more bread and butter reforms such as improved products, a website refresh and modernised stores. Gap’s latest marketing moment with “The White Lotus” actress Parker Posey, for instance, builds on a series of other recent playful ads, including its “Get Loose” campaign featuring new denim silhouettes with Troye Sivan as its face.

“We see our ability to attract a younger customer, a new customer of the brand and we’re growing our customer file, we’re growing in relevance,” said Gap brand president and chief executive Mark Breitbard. “How are we doing it? … It’s working on our core [products], layering collabs, working with influencers and continuing to storytell. GapStudio is another layer onto that.”

While GapStudio will not adhere to a strict cadence of drops, its seasonal collections will augment Gap’s main line with more trend-driven pieces and an edgier point-of-view, according to Posen.

“Looking at the classic Gap elements and seeing what I felt was missing created a little dream wardrobe,” he explained inside the GapStudio atelier. “The fit, the cuts and the lengths are younger and shorter.”

The latest collection includes various mini skirts, crop tops, a fitted jersey dress, denim and leather moto jackets, the Hathaway shirt dress in multiple colours and a trench coat with pleats — the priciest item at $248. Its campaign was shot by Mario Sorrenti, the photographer known for sexually charged editorials in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar in the 1990s, and styled by Alastair McKimm, former editor-in-chief of i-D magazine.

Next to Gap’s more basic, utility-driven assortment, with prices largely under $100, GapStudio styles feature more tailored details, such as extra seams on a slip dress and ribbing on tank tops. Future seasons could potentially include a men’s line.

For now, the collection will be available for purchase in 10 select Gap stores and online. Breitbard said he expects the line to be just as much of a revenue driver as it is an opportunity to showcase a new design perspective.

“There will be some pieces in GapStudio that start as more limited editions, but that we intend to chase into them and meet demand,” he said.

Under Dickson’s guidance, the marquee Gap brand has made strides in elevating its perception among shoppers by improving merchandising in stores, making discounts and promotions less visible, and revamping the website to include moving lookbooks and a new fit guide.

“Gap has secured its spot at this point in the mind-sphere of Millennials and older Gen-Z,” said retail consultant Gabriella Santaniello. “It’s not the constantly promotional Gap it used to be but more than that, you’ve seen a noticeable improvement in quality, construction and fit.”

Gap’s recent collaborations with Los Angeles-based womenswear brands Dôen and Cult Gaia have succeeded in getting new customers in the door, Santaniello said, also pointing to successful category launches at Old Navy, such as its occasionwear capsule late last year. GapStudio will be another way to lure in shoppers looking for something elevated, she added, and because it’s a small collection, it’s not a risk to the brand.

Gap’s turnaround remains a work in progress, Breitbard said.

“The brand is still much bigger than the business,” he added. “It just shows how much opportunity we still have in every category that we compete in.”