GapStudio Collection 01 is the American fashion giant Gap’s answer to the question: “If classic items can still be reconstructed as works of art, are we still obsessed with “fast?” “
Mario Sorrenti captured Imaan Hammam wearing a $198 denim suit in San Francisco, in front of Golden Gate Bridge. This item, which appears to be ordinary, has been the subject of social media attention due to its pleated back and detachable belt.
Alastair MacKimm, the stylist behind the GapStudio show revealed a detail. The white bra-style shirt used in the series has a NASA-grade support structure that can be worn as a separate piece or an inner layer under a suit. This “modular design”, a reflection of the brand’s wasteful fast fashion, is behind this “modular” design. According to EPA statistics in 2023, 11.3 millions tons of discarded clothes will be added to US landfills.
The lining on GapStudio’s double-breasted jacket ($248) features the latitude and longitude coordinates of San Francisco. The recycled polyester fiber used in the jacket comes from the Pacific Garbage Patch. This strategy of combining geoculture with environmental narrative was the key to the brand’s breakthrough against H&M and Shein. Zac Posen stated in an interview that “we are not selling clothing, but a kind of’responsible eternality.’
In GapStudio’s New York pop up store, customers can trade in their old jeans for a coupon for 10% off new products. This closed-loop model has allowed the brand to achieve an increase of 23% in repurchase rates in fiscal 2024. It also makes each piece of clothing a storyteller – like the navy polka-dot shirt worn by Anok YAI in the advertisement with the words “1969”, embroidered on its cuffs to pay tribute to the Gap’s founding year.
When classics meet innovation fashion is no longer a slave of trends, but an expression of self that transcends time.
