Gap Gets Patrick Robinson

Gap has signed up designer Patrick Robinson to be the new executive vice-president in charge of design for Gap Adult and Body lines.

Patrick Robinson (photo by wireimage.com)

Robinson is the latest in a string of designers to work with Gap, either as consultants, in the case of Phoebe Philo in Europe (pictures I posted in April of the European autumn collection) or as guest designers, in the case of four young designers who did a special collaboration with Gap earlier this Spring. I've heard mixed things about how the white shirts done in the collaboration actually sold. There was no in-store branding, which seemed silly to me, but the big billboard ads and massive photo shoot on the cover of Vogue no doubt helped them reach their potential.

As it happens, Vogue's market editor, Virginia Smith, is married to Patrick Robinson which will bode well for future efforts. Patrick has long been a Vogue favorite, particularly as the one young American designer the magazine could champion before the current crop of Zac Posens and Proenza Schoulers came along. What one can never account for is the amount of inner-company resistance Robinson will encounter at Gap. His great collections for Perry Ellis were much under-appreciated by management who were in favor of a more commercial, less-fashion look. He left before he could make a real impact on sales at the main distributors of the label, department stores.

The pressure is on at Gap, but, if given a free hand, the results should be far easier to judge. With their own store network, Gap can see within days how well the new product he creates does. If history is any guide -- his collection at Target was a favorite of the Budget Fashionista -- I think the collections will be smashing and I trust the sales will be too.