The latest fall season merchandise at the Gap is the first big test for their new and much buzzed-about head designer Patrick Robinson, whose arrival at the Gap has been welcomed by analysts as well as the fashion peanut gallery where a fashion magazine recently eye-rollingly anointed Robinson a "megabrand messiah."
Reinventing Gap, the nation’s largest specialty apparel chain, has been fashion’s equivalent of Merlin’s stone for much of the last decade, as sales and profits have dipped, along with its image among young consumers. Mr. Robinson, 41, is the third designer to attempt to pull the sword since Gap began to publicly acknowledge its creative personnel in 2003, and the most closely watched because of his popularity with industry insiders and his finesse with casual American sportswear. His fall designs have generated promising reviews, but also concern about whether a single designer — one with a mixed track record — can revive a brand with 1,155 stores in the United States in the midst of an economic crisis.
The next time I pass a location, I may stop in to see what all the buzz is about. Maybe with Robinson at the helm, this iconic yet problematic store will fill a gap in my apparel needs.
Read more here.
Update: Color me very unimpressed. The issue of fit still hasn't been resolvedL their "smalls" fit me like a medium. Dear Gap: I am not built like Howie Long.