Designer Shoes At The Gap: Who Knew?

I was amused to read that the Pierre Hardy shoes designed for Gap Europe will be coming to the U.S. Why amused? Because I spent most of the weekend in various Gap stores in London desperate to make use of a 30 percent of "friends and family" voucher that I had been emailed. (Knock-offs offering a 60 percent discount were refused.) Pretty much everyone in the store seemed to have a voucher -- the promotion had been extended which is not a great sign of success. Most of the products I loved when I first saw them online were still in store. Anyway, I'd read about the Pierre Hardy-designed shoes but, although I am a fan, didn't like these particular shapes so ignored them. Pierre Hardy has his own line and also designs the shoes for Hermes. I laughed when I got to the store because despite the pre-launch press, there were plenty of them on display -- all clearly marked "Designer Shoes" but not a word about which designer it was. Again, a massive missed opportunity by Gap. Had they been marked Pierre Hardy I am sure they would have sold better.

The fall women's collection had been designed by Phoebe Philo and Marie-Amelie Sauve of French Vogue, but those names weren't publicized either but for much better reasons. No one outside of the hard-core fashion community has heard of Sauve (she's also the muse to Nicholas Ghesquiere at Balenciaga) and Philo is moonlighting while working on launching her next venture and was likely not allowed to use her name. That problem with their collection was that it was pricey compared with the other UK high street chains. OK, the quality is better than TopShop but to most consumers the stores occupy the same space.

This week sees the launch party for another Gap collaboration which will hit stores on Dec. 1 -- this one with groovy stylist Katie Grand. She's selected a few of her favorite things, like the Mulberry Roxanne bag (she's the new Mulberry creative director), tweaked them (in this case, had it made in canvas), and will see them sold at the Gap to benefit the (Red) initiative. There will be goods made by friends-of-Katie including Pierre Hardy, Henry Holland, Proenza Schouler, Stephen Jones and Giles Deacon. Let's just hope that this time they'll be identified for what they are and not just tossed in with the rest of the assortment.