If you told the average Gen Z American consumer a year ago that their favorite Australian internet gay would be taking over their social media feeds in a campaign for the Gap, it’s hard to imagine many of them would believe you, let alone understand the magnitude and artistry behind Troye Sivan’s “Get Loose” collaborative campaign with Zac Posen. Inundated with imagery and advertisements from the plethora of social media and streaming platforms that Gen Z spends their lives on, it’s not often that anything–ad or otherwise–can get them to focus on just one screen at once. Though I can’t speak for an entire group of consumers, when I saw this campaign, my gaze was glued on my favorite male pop star “getting loose” across my screen in unison with 20 dancers, all clad in Gap denim.
In the (nearly) nine months since Posen’s appointment as executive vice president and creative director at Gap Inc., he has dramatically transformed the group’s marketing, imagery, and design. Known to many–mainly millennials and Gen X–as a luxury designer known for his couture approach that puts women first, Posen’s move to Gap Inc. came as a shock to many. Moving from luxury to mass retail isn’t easy and is a path many creatives in the world of luxury fashion would never consider.
When he entered the sphere of luxury fashion, Posen’s designs spoke to upper-class women of many ages, as he became known for his red-carpet glamor. By nature, Posen’s business model wasn’t particularly well-known by the average American, as is the case with most independent designers. Gen Z had yet to start elementary school–let alone purchase their first designer garment or accessory–when he started his business. His brand wasn’t known by the masses because it wasn’t for them.
Early in his career, his focus was on what editors his collection appealed to and who he could dress on the next red carpet, but with time (and the closure of his namesake line), his goals and definition of success changed. Speaking with the Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed for the BoF Podcast, Posen now defines success as “being able to inspire a larger public, to be able to work within [his] own creativity and to use that and what [he] represents to help a larger public be in touch with their own creativity.” Posen’s work has always kept his consumers’ feelings and attitudes in mind, but taking the creative reins at Gap Inc. has changed his means of connection.
What Posen’s work for the Gap brings to light is the attention to detail and human connection that is so often lacking from mass retailers. Flooded with micro-trend and social media-driven fast fashion, it is not often that fashion that is widely accessible can feel inspired in the way that Fashion with a capital F does. Surely, there are plenty of people in and out of the fashion industry who would argue that the role of a brand like the Gap is to provide clothing of a decent quality to consumers at a relatively accessible price. In short, to clothe the people. But in what world would the people not also desire, seek, and deserve that same inspiration?
However, Posen is not the only designer who has recently crossed over from the world of luxury fashion to a mass retailer. British designer Clare Waight Keller, who has served as the creative director of Chloé and Givenchy, started a sub-label for Japan’s Uniqlo, “Uniqlo:C”, in 2023. In September, she was appointed as their creative director, marking the first designer with a luxury background to take the helm at the brand. When speaking about the transition on “The Glossy Podcast”, she remarked, “The price point may differ, but good design is good design, it doesn’t matter what the price is. It’s about the quality of the design.”
At its core, fashion, regardless of price point or category, will always be more than a mindless step in our morning routine. Even when it is not a conscious choice, the clothes we wear have a direct impact on how we feel, how we feel as we go about our day, and how we carry ourselves in the world. Whether it’s a $35 pair of jeans from the Gap or an $800 pair from Acne Studios, the right pair of jeans and the perfect white t-shirt will always mean something to whoever is wearing them. Maybe the real luxury was the inspiration we found along the way.
Words by Flora Medina
Graphics by Juan Cruz