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Gap Inc.'s Glenn Murphy laid out it's plan to develop its brands, new (Athleta, Piperlime, Intermix) and old (Gap, Old Navy), this week, and he seemed to be channeling Nick Wooster, formerly of JCPenny. Recall that Wooster delivered one of the best quotes of 2013's retail scene so far, saying, "We need to make cute shit." Murphy echoed the sentiment in more official terms: "As the product continues to improve, there will be more regular-price selling, shallower promotions and shallower markdowns....It's all about delivering consistently in the future."
In fact, the purchase of Intermix in January was in part to do just that. According to WWD, the company is hoping the designer savvy brand's "fashion sensibility rubs off on the other divisions."
Some of the adjustments you can look forward to include a global revamp. Steve Sunnucks, Gap global president, notes that they're currently shifting to a worldwide "universal fit" with the added bonus of more on size differences rather than fit variances. Basically there's going to be two fits: One for Japan and one for the rest of the world. That's one way to get around the sizing issue.
But if you were worried that with the changes worldwide, Gap and the Gap brands would lose the American thing that has been its brand identity, don't. Sunnucks noted they're goal is "to be current, not trendy; classic but not conservative; youthful but not young; reliable but not predictable, and above all, authentically American. It's about a global brand that is still locally relevant."
· Glenn Murphy Lays Out Vision for Gap Inc. [WWD]
· Why Gap's Acquisition of Intermix Could Mean Awesome Things for Online Shopping [Racked]
· Why Gap's Acquisition of Intermix Could Mean Awesome Things for Online Shopping [Racked]
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