NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 As his high-end GapStudio collection makes its debut, fashion designer Zac Posen reflects on his journey to revitalize the Gap brand and his vision for its future.
Appointed in 2024, Posen has shaped the creative direction for Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. By taking bold risks, he has elevated the heritage brand, starting with his groundbreaking designs at last yearsa国际传媒 .
鈥淚 had this amazing opportunity with Oscar-winner Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph and the chance to bring in different artisans during the process,鈥 Posen says. 鈥淚 think they saw a new facet of my creativity and what Gap could represent culturally.鈥
Randolph wore a striking all-denim gown inspired by Gapsa国际传媒 1969 denim, designed for the galasa国际传媒 鈥淕arden of Time鈥 theme. The following day, the orders began flooding in, and an idea was born.
Posen's Collection 01 brings a fresh, modern twist to American style with expert tailoring, intricate details and a touch of elegance. Featuring elevated takes on Gapsa国际传媒 signature fabrics, the collection includes a chic trench coat and stylish sailor pants 鈥 both in denim 鈥 and the now-famous poplin maxi shirtdress.
As a designer, Posen was known for and glamorous, body-hugging gowns. The label was shut down in 2019.
Posen recently hosted The Associated Press at his Gap design studio in New York, where he discussed the collection, his passion for denim and the journey in reinventing his career.
Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: What happened at Met Gala that inspired this collection?
POSEN: This amazing opportunity that came about with like 鈥榙o we do a Met Gala outfit,鈥 right? 鈥楧o we do a Met Gala outfit?鈥 And we said, 鈥測es, letsa国际传媒 do it.鈥 And I had this amazing opportunity with Da鈥橵ine Joy (Randolph) and the ability to kind of bring in different art artisans in the process. And I think they saw a different facet ... of my creativity and what Gap could mean culturally.
AP: And that set off a chain reaction?
POSEN: The Met Gala happened. And then the next day, my friend Erin Walsh, stylist, and Anne Hathaway called and said, we want you to make a cotton dress. And from that moment we produced the dress. Sold within hours, sold out online. And we kind of started to see this cultural conversation starting and this other facet that really naturally evolved. It wasn鈥檛 in a strategy or a playbook. I never really thought I鈥檇 be rebuilding another sub-brand within such an iconic brand and have this opportunity to work in an artisanal manner in the early development of a collection that will be available to a much larger scale amount of people.鈥
AP: How did you end up working with Gap?
POSEN: I hadn鈥檛 had my company since before COVID, since 2019, when my company closed. And it had been this interesting time period ... Obviously COVID happened. I had to figure out how to support myself, and I was doing one-of-a-kind pieces. I did some projects with Ryan Murphy on 鈥楩eud: Capote Versus the Swans,鈥 and little projects here and there, and I was looking at different opportunities, mostly around within luxury and with luxury brands that I鈥檇 been in conversations with for quite some time. And I had this amazing opportunity here.
AP: What's the challenge bringing your style to an already established American brand?
POSEN: GapStudio is using a totally different skill set of mine, the ability and honor to be able to kind of call the team back after ... losing a family that I had built and grown with for over 20 years of incredible artisans and craftspeople and designers that I worked with for many years that had been broken apart, is a full journey story that I actually never saw or expected in my life, and itsa国际传媒 really meaningful. Itsa国际传媒 really beautiful to create environment in a space and to have an American institutional corporation and brand invest in creativity and talent at this level is really unprecedented.
AP: What gave you the confidence to bring your personal vision to an already established brand?
POSEN: Great question. Gap is Gap. Gap will always be evolving. The world has evolved. Great classics are always great classics. They always need those elements of elevation to them. I think design and how people dress today has changed. I think that new consumers in the marketplace are requesting elements to mix into their classics that are more elevated, that are more stylish. Thatsa国际传媒 how we capture a new, younger audience.
AP: Da'Vine Joy (Randolph) and Anne Hathaway, to name a few, loved your approach to denim, and now this collection has much of it. What is it about denim for you?
POSEN: Denim is quintessentially American. Itsa国际传媒 such an incredible fiber. Right? It is cotton and itsa国际传媒 indigo. These are two plants. I don鈥檛 know. I鈥檓 a gardener. So I鈥檒l just add that. But, you know, denim is utility. Denim is artisanal. Actually, a pair of jeans that gets made has as many steps as a couture gown. You don鈥檛 really realize that as a consumer. I go to the washhouses, and I see these incredible artisans kind of modeling, building, washing, scrubbing, sanding, dramaling, I mean, itsa国际传媒 mind blowing that, you know, this world that we鈥檙e living in, wearing all these jeans, have no sense of those processes.
AP: What about sustainability in fashion for you?
POSEN: For me, durability or quality is important in any piece one makes. I鈥檓 not interested in disposable clothing. Even with my gowns, I believed in quality and integrity of make and construction. And so, when you take it to a larger audience, you want pieces that can be a keepsake. I don鈥檛 believe in building a collection that is age focused. This collection definitely has a voice for a new customer and definitely has cute styles for a younger customer, but it should totally be cross-generational. It should be able to work on a lot of different body types. Thatsa国际传媒 how I鈥檝e always designed my collections, and durability, for sure. I mean, you want pieces that can become keepsakes and beloved and passed on and shared.
AP: Gap has an established style, what do you hope to add to it?
POSEN: I think that Gap is a staple. Gap represented kind of a way of dress, a kind of modern wardrobe for the consumer that was rooted in ... classic fabrications and ... reinventing them, representing American style to the consumers all around the world. I hope to kind of hold that quality and those attributes and bring in kind of style and bring in a sense of trend and pieces that just add a little bit of that magic.
AP: Can we expect another design for this year's Met Gala?
POSEN: We will see. We will see.
