Biz Buzz: Mind the Gap? The Possible Publicity Comeback

Biz Buzz keeps its fabulously accessorized ear to the ground to provide breaking fashion news coverage.

Remember when the Gap was a store that everyone shopped at? Perhaps for you it was when you were in elementary or middle school, or your parents went to Gap for classic wardrobe basics? Well, if you’re like me, you probably have not frequented its stores often as of lately, except for when you absolutely need that basic t-shirt or a “cheaper” pair of pants. Ever since Mickey Drexler left the company to add some spark to J.Crew, the Gap’s stocks and sales have dropped significantly. Most people have simply grown out of Gap’s concept and switched to substitute retailers.

That is…until now. Recently it seems like the Gap has been everywhere I look: on Google, fashion blogs, movies, and even the nightly news. Why this reversal of Gap’s misfortunes? Let’s take a denim clad look…

• The Gap has been plugging a new premium sector of denim titled “1969”, and has opened boutiques solely dedicated to the line.
  
  
• It has a new collaboration with French shoe designer, Pierre Hardy, debuting next week for the fall collection.
  
  
• In the opening scene of the top box office film, The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg runs around Cambridge, MA in a Gap sweatshirt! And who doesn’t want to be like a billionaire, Harvard dropout?

Most recently, the Gap Inc. was in the news for its racy decision to re-do its beloved signature logo. Outrage exploded on the web following the launch. According to NBC Nightly News, one user called it “an element of the periodic table”. Due to the negative response, the company immediately changed the logo back to the familiar original.

So, what should we make of the buzz about the Gap?

The Gap has a great opportunity to turn its line back around, and with its current press coverage, it might just be able to go back from being a company that is fading from the retailing world to a main competitor once again.

Now I am willing to go the Gap for more than just a basic t-shirt, what about you?

Visit Gap.com for more information on their new collaborations and lines.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/11/AR2010101105750.html

-Elizabeth Lafontaine