Can Zac Posen offer Gap Inc. a new creative vision that will get it out of its slump?
It’s unclear. But the company is entrusting its brands to the 43-year-old designer. Today, Posen was named the new executive vice president and creative director of Gap Inc., which owns Old Navy, Athleta, Banana Republic, and its namesake brand, Gap. He will also serve as the chief creative officer of Old Navy, taking a more active role in designing the brand’s collections.
It’s the latest move in what appears to be Gap Inc.’s broader transformation strategy. Last July, the company brought on Richard Dickson to be its new CEO. He’s the branding mastermind who spent much of his career at Mattel, where he helped revitalized the Barbie franchise, culminating with the blockbuster success of the Barbie movie.
Dickson is clearly skilled as a brand-builder, but his expertise thus far hasn’t been in the fashion industry. It was crucial for him to have a creative director with a track record of success in the fashion world.
Posen isn’t the first person to come to mind in this regard. His eponymous brand, which he launched in 2002 when he was in his twenties, shuttered in 2019. The following year, the “Zac Posen” name and IP were sold to the licensing firm Centric Brands. In 2014, Posen was appointed the creative director for womenswear at Brooks Brothers and served in that role until the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
Still, Posen has maintained a foothold in the culture. He became a reality-TV star between 2012 and 2018 as a judge on Project Runway. This allowed him to grow a social media audience, with 2.2 million followers on Instagram. And he was a costume designer for the TV show, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.
In many ways, Posen is a very traditional choice for a creative director. He was trained as a designer at Parsons and Central Saint Martins. He regularly designs red carpet gowns for celebrities. And he’s already partnered with large corporations, including David’s Bridal and Delta Airlines.
Gap Inc. for its part, has attempted more groundbreaking partnerships with designers in the recent past that haven’t been successful. In June 2020, the Gap brand announced it had signed a 10-year deal with Kanye West and his Yeezy label. It was meant to be an experiment in elevating Gap’s aesthetic, drawing from West’s expertise as a streetwear designer. But the partnership collapsed in September 2022, after West failed to deliver designs on time.
In January 2020, Gap had also previously announced a partnership with Telfar Clemens, a Liberian-American designer whose fast-growing label is known for its gender-bending aesthetic. But during the pandemic, Gap pulled out of the agreement and reportedly failed to pay Clemens in a timely manner for the work he had already done.
We’ll have to wait and see what Posen’s aesthetic vision will be for the Gap Inc. portfolio. Banana Republic recently went through a rebranding that has been generally well received, but Gap and Old Navy have been in desperate need of revitalization for years. It’s now going to be on Posen’s shoulders to make these legacy brands inspiring again.
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