The Shophound

COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: DVF For Kids Selling Out At The Gap While Fashion Star Is A Hit At H&M

Our friends at RACKED have spent some time on Fifth Avenue in Midtown this morning so we don't have to. Clearly it was the launch of Gap's Diane von Furstenberg children's line that brought them to the neighborhood, but while there they checked in at H&M where the first batch of winning designs from NBC's new show Fashion Star went on sale. Apparently, the Cutout dress by Sarah Parrott is sold out in both colors (online as well, but the men's navy jacket by Nzimiro is still available for all. They also report that while every trace of Marni's H&M line for women is gone, gone, gone, upstairs, there is still a selection of several items from the men's line, which in our ever so humble opinion, was one of the chain's best men's collaborations to date.

But back to the Gap, where the DVF line is reported to be gone by the end of the day. Racked recommends shopping online or checking the website for other, lower profile locations, but they warn that this collection really is for little ones only. Not even the most petite fully grown woman should attempt squeezing into any of the trendier items for some bargain-rate DVF collab style.

DVF For Gap Kids Is Going Fast on Fifth Avenue, H&M on Fifth Avenue Goes Fashion Star Crazy, H&M Fifth Avenue Is Still Haunted by the Ghost of Marni (RACKED)

MULTIPLE COLLABORATION ANTICIPATION: GQ's Best New Menswear Designers For 2012 Will Collaborate With The Gap

Now we have something to anticipate at Gap's Fifth Avenue Concept Store later this year when GQ's Best New Menswear Designers for 2012 will each launch capsule collections with the mega-chain. The group of six burgeoning labels were just announced, and what a great group it is, proving that American menswear is experiencing something of an unprecedented talent explosion right now. Last year's group designed a few (sort of expensive!) pieces for Dockers that were sold at Bloomingdales, but this time around the six designers chosen by the magazine will get broader exposure. GQ will pick a winner as the collections come closer to launching, but let's start with The Shophound's favorites —and we do have some in this group:

IAN VELARDI just showed his third collection for his own label, and The Shophound has been smitten since we discovered his debut line of sophisticated but modern and sleek a year ago at Capsule. Barneys loved it too and carries his line exclusively along with Park & Bond online. This unassuming and hardworking young designer put in time at Hickey and Hart, Shaffner & Marx, and essentially operates as a one-man show. That's dedication! He has impeccable taste and also loves cars, which is awesome. We'll wear anything he makes, and we don't care what he turns out for the Gap because we know we are already buying every piece.

MARK MCNAIRY is another designer who could easily lead us around by our nose like the fashion cult leader he has become. He is most well known at the moment for his English made shoe line which established his irreverent sensibility with classic styles. You can thank him for the profusion of suede bucks with neon-colored rubber soles you have been seeing everywhere. He has just launched his full ready-to-wear collection along with showing his third season as the designer for the exclusive Woolrich Woolen Mills label and overseeing collaborations with Bass, Spiewak and Pro-Keds, so this is a very busy man. Don't get mad if he doesn't have time for an extended conversation. Expect to see classic pieces in unexpected materials and patterns like camo, floral, smiley faces or who knows what?

The identical twin brothers Shimon & Ariel Ovadia behind OVADIA & SONS have been dazzling editors and retailers since they debuted their eye-popping soup-to-nuts collection of sportswear, tailored clothing, shoes, furnishings and accessories last year. The Brooklyn based pair come from a family steeped in the garment industry, and their meticulously made collection of classic clothing is infused with a very contemporary no-holds-barred sense of luxury. How will they translate their rarefied point of view for the more democratic Gap?

TODD SNYDER is another editor and retailer's favorite who has taken what he learned at Polo and J.Crew and wrapped it up in a more luxurious and modern package to sell at stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Odin. He has succeeded in separating his own style from those of his previous employers, though this upcoming collaboration presents the interesting circumstance of a former J.Crew designer creating a capsule line for the Gap.

SATURDAYS NYC has also benefitted from exposure at J.Crew, and of all the designers chosen, their own casual style is closest to the Gap's stock in trade. Expect designers Colin Tunstall, Josh Rosen and Morgan Collett to turn out something that goes well with a surfboard.

And finally, BLK DNM founder Johan Lindeberg is not really much of a newcomer having founded the J.Lindeberg label and consulted on a host of other labels, but his new label shows a more refined attitude towards denim and wardrobe basics. His SoHo store just got the Critical Shoppper treatment in the Times, and he has made fans out of musicians and fashion editors. How will he translate his luxury basics back to the masses who shop at the Gap?

Announcing GQ's Best New Designers in America 2012 (GQ.com)
NOTE: All images from GQ.com.

SLIMMING DOWN: UWS Says Goodbye To A Gap

That highly desirable corner store at Broadway and 86th Street used to be a Gap until earlier this month. As a part of efforts to trim underperforming locations announced last year, it was closed along with a few other Manhattan locations which smacked of 10 years ago, when the mega-chain also corrected an overexpansion in the city that seemed to put a Gap on nearly every other corner. This particular store was one which many observers predicted would be shuttered due to its strange layout, and we can tell you from our own observations that it was not a particularly well designed store that probably should have been closed in any event —or at least gutted and completely redesigned.

One thing we can remember, however, is way back when the Gap was a great place to shop no matter how many branches sprung up about the city. Hopefully some of the new creative management at the company will be able to rejuvenate the chain which has held up poorly after the onslaught of H&M, Zara, Forever 21 and any number of other fast-fashion chains that have proliferated over the past 10 years.

This closing leaves only one Gap left on the Upper West Side on Broadway near Lincoln Center which is currently undergoing a long-running renovation that has left it covered in plywood even as it continues to operate. Hopefully, this means an exciting new redesign is in the works and maybe a rebirth for a battered but not quite beaten retail icon.

JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Ailing Favorite edition

Today's Critical Shopper, John Caramanica checks in at the Gap's Fifth Avenue flagship to try and figure out exactly what it is that keeps the mega-chain from recapturing the glory of its 1990s heyday. Having heard that the creative director, Patrick Robinson had been sacked for failing to create excitement around the brand's offerings, he takes a look to see if things are really all that bad, specifically among the men's offerings. The problem, as he sees it, is a slavish devotion to basic items whose appeal may have worn off over the years, and the chain's compulsion to be all things to all people amid an onslaught of fresher, more inventive competition,

Amid this onslaught, what does Gap offer? Racks and racks and racks of obligation pieces, browns and blacks and grays and navys. Some effort has been made in khakis, available in a variety of cuts, including the dreaded “relaxed” ($48.50).
But instead of dictating taste, Gap casts a wide net, hoping to catch the indiscriminate shopper: tourists leveraging a weak dollar; men ambivalent about the shopping process. A sale rack held dozens of a deep blue button-up shirt with floral blobs that even the style-immune hadn’t been persuaded to buy. Not every hustle works.

Amid the banal basics, he manages to excavate some appealing items with style suggesting that Mr. Robinson may have been steamrolled by some kind corporate mandate that kept him in the middle of the road. Caramanica is particularly impressed by the Fifth Avenue store's attentive staff, the soft t-shirts he has always loved as well as the revamped 1969 denim collection which he pronounces a worthy improvement over previous offerings. This is an opinion The Shophound shares, and it's not just because they gave us a free pair last year —we totally would have bought them anyway.

Ultimately, though, he concludes that the company cannot rely on customers' memories of how much they loved the Gap fifteen years ago. Somehow, it has to figure out a way to fight off the encroaching competition from UNIQLO, H&M, Zara and, yes, even the irksome Forever 21 —and the clock is ticking.

Critical Shopper: Do My High School Jeans Still Fit? By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Gap 680 Fifth Avenue at 54th Street, Midtown

ATHLETIC INITIATIVE II: Gap's Athleta To Take An East Side Store

As it prepares to open its first big New York store (pictured above), Gap's Athleta division has already chosen its second spot, a 4,000 square foot store on the Upper East Side at 86th Street and Third Avenue. Not surprisingly, the new women's sports apparel store will be on the same block as one of Gap's longtime stores in the area. Interestingly, while the upcoming West Side store is relatively close to it's obvious competitor, yoga-centric Lululemon, the new East Side location will be about 20 blocks from the Canadian chain, giving it some distance but still settling it comfortably in the center of one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods. While Gap's ongoing business troubles continue to supply material to the business pages of the world, it retains enough real estate clout to pick prime locations in Manhattan's desirable neighborhoods, And we are betting that they are not quite finished rolling out Athleta in the city. After all, shouldn't a downtown location complete the effort?  We are keeping an eye on NoHo, Flatiron or possibly SoHo for the next announcement, but that's just our own idle speculation.

Sporty Gap Races Into 86th and Third (NYObserver)
Previously:
Gap's Athleta To Take Over Lucky Brand Space On Columbus Avenue (4.20.2011)

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT: Gap Dismisses Patrick Robinson

While many saw this coming when Gap hired 7 For All Mankind's Rosella Giuliani to take over denim design, the giant chain has fired Patrick Robinson, executive vice president of Gap Global Design for Adult and Body. Hired in 2007 to revamp and update the company's apparel, his offerings never caught fire with the buying public as the chain's numbers remained flat over time. Pam Wallack, head of the Gap Global Creative Center decided to let Robinson go after a three month review of the design team.

Well liked by the industry, Robinson has represented the closest the Gap has gotten to having a designer serve as the public face of the chain, often making appearances on behalf of the company. Unfortunately, The Gap represented yet another example of Robinson being brought in to fix an ailing label. He originally gained attention in the late 1990s when he was hired to design the Anne Klein Collection after Richard Tyler's unsuccesful stint at the label. Ultimately, the designer line couldn't be rescued and was closed. Later, he was tasked with reviving the women's collection at Perry Ellis, an effort that fizzled when the company refused to put his acclaimed runway collections into production for luxury retailers, instead preferring to focus on more lucrative moderate offerings.

Still, Robinson was well regarded enough to be recruited for a Target capsule collection before landing the Gap job, but The Shophound is hoping that, ultimately, the charming and talented designer will revive his own short-lived signature women's ready-to-wear collection. Then he won't have to answer to anyone but himself.

Patrick Robinson Out at Gap (WWD)

 

ATHLETIC INITIATIVE: Gap's Athleta To Take Over Lucky Brand Space On Columbus Avenue

Columbus Avenue continues to develop as yet another significant retail destination for the city. When Lucky Jeans exited its longtime home there last year, The Shophound wondered it maybe it meant that there were finally enough jeans stores in New York. Now that we have learned that Gap's newest division, the women's athletic wear brand Athleta, will be taking over the 3,500 square foot space on the corner of 70^th Street, it must mean that West Side women are ready to trade their skinny jeans for yoga pants.

This move may signal a larger rollout for the Athleta brand which Gap acquired in 2008. January marked the opening of a flagship store for the brand in San Francisco (pictured above and below), and while some bigger chains like to test out and fine tune new store concepts in locations with lower profiles, Gap is heading right to the spotlight for what will only be the chain's third retail location. Strategically located near the huge Reebok Sports Club a few blocks downtown, the store will also offer a less expensive alternative to Lululemon, the popular but pricey yogawear chain also located nearby on Broadway.

NYC slated for its first Athleta store (Crain's)

HOLIDAY POP-UP: COOL HUNTING X GAP Will Be Your Favorite Gift Shop

Is there anythign more frustrating than shopping for gifts and being faced with the same old crap everywhere you turn? A few months ago, the folks at the GAP began addressing this problem by approaching Josh Rubin and Evan Orensten of Cool Hunting to fill their Fifth Avenue Concept Shop with Holiday Gifts. The pair quickly got to work squeezing about six months of work into four weeks and wound up with a collection of items that perfectly encapsulates their website's endless quest for the unusual, the intriguing and the just plain cool.

Rubin, Orensten and their editorial team's assortment ranges from brands you'll recognize like OXO, Moscot and Jonathan Adler, who made special limited edition merchandise for the shop, to obscure artisans and even friends and family. Special focus was given to local sources, and there are an abundance of items under $100, and quite a few under $50.

Orensten walked us through the store last week as the finishing touches were being applied just before their opening party. There are tons of items to browse from the practical and utilitarian like Jawbone's hot new Jambone speaker in an exclusive Cool Hunting green to specially commissioned flights of fancy like working skateboards completely covered in kimono fabrics by Tokyo's Zillion ($650-$750). There are toiletries, jewelry, accessories, food items, home items, toys for kids and even some for pets. Is it a random assortment? In a sense, but as in any good store, the merchandise is tied together with its collective appeal and Cool Hunting's dedication to innovative design, artisan craftsmanship, social and environmental consciousness.

Of course, they didn't just ship a bunch of stuff to the Gap and stack them on the shelves. ByKenyan was engaged to transform the white space of the shop into something of a general store with reclaimed wood from upstate barns, wall paintings by Evolving Image and an Ian Hundley quilt based on a map of the city ($2,500). Even the elaborate chandeliers are available for purchase.

There are too may items to recount, but our personal favorites included a limited edition Cool Hunting collaboration with the newly rejuvenated Swiss watchmaker Marvin, a charming avocado salt & pepper shaker for $40 from Daina Platais Ceramics, Tech Gloves from Freehands ($18-$80) with thumb and index fingers that peel back so you can use your iPhone without removing them, a Special Edition Marker Set ($500) from artist Tom Sachs and Krink, a build-it-yourself Bamboo Bike Studio Kit for $496, a limited edition Mast Brothers chocolate bar ($10), a special edition wool cycling cap from Outlier ($90) and so much more.

In addition, Gap and Cool Hunting will be hosting a series of events throughout the season to spotlight special designers and products. The schedule of events will be available on Gap's Facebook Fan Page. The Cool Hunting shop will be open every day (except Christmas) through Sunday, January 2^nd, but we are guessing that much of the limited edition merchandise will be sold out well before then, so don't dawdle. So far this is one of our favorite things to hit Gap's Concept Space in quite some time. Maybe if we are very, very good it will become a regular seasonal event.

GAP X Cool Hunting Holiday Pop-Up Shop through January 2^nd, 2011, 680 Fifth Avenue between 53^rd & 54^th Streets, Midtown
Cool Hunting (Official Site)

After the jump, a few more of our favorite items:

SoHo SWITCHES: Is The Gap Ditching SoHo?

After only a year of using the space as a 1969 denim store, The New York Post suggests that the Gap has had it with the two level space at the corner of Broadway and Spring Street. The highly trafficked corner was originally a Banana Republic Men's Store, but when that chain consolidated its stores last year in an expanded location up the street, Gap converted the location to showcase its newly revamped denim line. Now, the Post is reporting that Gap has subleased the 15,000 square foot space to the Canadian contemporary women's chain Aritzia. By our count, the chain has 46 locations in Canada and the U.S. including one in the Short Hills Mall, and could be described as a potential Scoop-Killer featuring a host of familiar contemporary and denim brands (Acne, J.Brand, Marc by Marc, Current/Elliott, Rag & Bone, Rebecca Minkoff, etc.) as well as its own fashion lines. A prominent corner like this one could be a major beachhead for further U.S. expansion.

The question is, with 4 years left on its lease, why would the Gap ditch such a good location? Perhaps they feel it cannibalizes the NoHo stores around Astor Place, or maybe the denim focus of this location is overkill for such a big store. Is the store being divided? So far, nobody is talking officially, but it's an intriguing development for Broadway's ever-growing collection of international retail chains.

3 Suitors For Fashion Site (NYPost via RACKED NY)

TODAY IN COCA-COLA CLASSIC: GAP Logo Debacle Ends With A Return To The Blue Box

What a weekend of unrelenting internet scorn can do! Lets all say it together:

Toldja!

The Gap has announced that it's attempt to replace it's iconic blue box logo has all been a horrible, horrible dream, and the company will immediately return to its familiar brand identifier. We figured that things would wind up this way, but we had no idea that the whole matter would be resolved with such speed. Clearly, executives swiftly recognized that changing the logo at all was a loser of an idea and smartly decided to cut their losses and move forward before it became an even bigger issue. The decision to open the floodgates to suggestions via Facebook was not well received either. In a press statement, Gap North American Brand President Marika Hansen put it simply, "We heard [our customers] say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we’ve made the decision to do just that – we will bring it back across all channels."

The nightmare is over.

Gap Scraps New Logo After Backlash, Revives Blue Box (Bloomberg via The Cut)
Previously:
Today In New Coke: GAP Open To Suggestion For New Logo