In February 2024, Gap made an unexpected move. The brand appointed Zac Posen, best known for red carpet couture and eveningwear, as Executive Vice President and Creative Director of Gap Inc. For a company that built its legacy on denim, khakis, and logo hoodies, the choice seemed like a curveball. But behind the scenes, Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson had a vision: if Barbie could go blockbuster, why couldn’t Gap return to cultural relevance?
Over a year later, it’s clear that Posen wasn’t brought in to tweak the brand. He was brought in to help reinvent it.
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The Making of GapStudio
From the outset, Posen’s mandate was broad. He had a voice in advertising, retail, store redesigns, and creative direction across all four Gap Inc. brands: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. But his design focus was GapStudio, a new capsule collection meant to reimagine the brand’s DNA through a couture lens.
What Posen created wasn’t a one-off. GapStudio launched in April 2025 with Collection 01, a 53-piece drop featuring tailored denim trenches, structured shirtdresses, and new silhouettes that nodded to Gap’s legacy while pushing it forward. The project has been both artisanal and accessible, bridging craftsmanship with culture, and treating even a shirtdress like it belongs on a red carpet.
A Year of Momentum
The brand’s creative momentum began before GapStudio even launched. In August 2024, Gap debuted Get Loose, a dance-heavy campaign featuring Troye Sivan, choreographed by Sergio Reis and set to Thundercat’s “Funny Thing.” The spot brought back a sense of energy and self-expression, tapping into the kind of emotional marketing Gap hadn’t owned in years.
In February 2025, Timothée Chalamet wore a custom GapStudio look to the Academy Awards Nominees Dinner—Gap’s first custom menswear piece under Zac Posen.
The design reimagined the brand’s Icon jacket and loose jeans in black Duchesse satin. For Gap, the moment marked a major shift. A brand once known for basics had just entered awards season dressed by one of Hollywood’s most watched style figures. It was a clear signal that GapStudio isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about relevance.
Just weeks later, Feels Like Gap hit the airwaves, starring indie icon Parker Posey. Her breezy, theatrical glide through a high-rise apartment, set to Mette’s “Mama’s Eyes,” was a visual reminder that Gap could still be fun, fresh, and culturally tuned-in.
The Met Gala Moment
But the real turning point came on May 5, 2025. At the Met Gala, themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” Posen debuted a custom GapStudio look on actress Laura Harrier. The design fused raw denim, gold shank buttons, organdy sleeves, and Duchess silk satin pants. It was equal parts workwear and eveningwear, inspired by Harrier’s family photos and the legacy of Black dandyism as a form of elegance and resistance.
It was also the first time Posen had ever created pants for the Met Gala—and the first time the look came from Gap.
This wasn’t about commercial placement. It was about meaning. Posen saw the collection as a canvas for personal identity and cultural memory, delivered through tailoring that honored craftsmanship and emotion.
Creative Direction with a Commercial Backbone
Under Posen and Dickson, Gap’s creative shift has translated into business wins. The Anne Hathaway shirtdress Posen designed in 2024 sold out within hours. The company has posted four consecutive quarters of growth. And recent campaigns, from the DÔEN collaboration to the just-announced Gap × Disney capsule inspired by the new live action Lilo & Stitch movie, continue to pair story with style.
Gap’s strategy is not to chase trends. It’s to build moments. From Demi Moore’s forthcoming custom T-shirt dress (a nod to her iconic 1990 Gap ad) to capsule drops designed in San Francisco and inspired by Gap’s archives, every decision feels deliberate. Thoughtful. Earned.
Enterprise Brands, Take Note
What Posen is doing at Gap isn’t just a rebrand. It’s a reinvention at scale. Here’s what enterprise fashion and lifestyle brands should be watching:
- Creative leadership that integrates (not dominates). Posen is embedded in the brand’s day-to-day, not operating from the sidelines.
- Capsule thinking, executed with precision. GapStudio doesn’t feel like a one-off. It’s a scalable, strategic layer of the brand.
- Emotional design with cultural context. From Harrier’s Met Gala moment to the DÔEN collab’s gender equity supply chain, Gap is making emotional resonance a brand advantage.
- Retail experiences that match the creative. Store redesigns, revamped merchandising, and subtle cues like high-end shopping bags and better playlist curation signal that this isn’t the old Gap—it’s Gap, updated.
The Takeaway
Gap didn’t just hire a designer. It hired a storyteller. A builder. A survivor of fashion’s old system who now understands the demands of mass retail and the hunger for meaning.Zac Posen’s GapStudio is showing what happens when a brand gets serious about both product and purpose. Whether it’s a hoodie reimagined for the CFDA, or a denim corset designed to make a statement at the Met, the message is the same: don’t play it safe. Play it smart.
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