Gap branches out with new options

In an attempt to stay ahead of denim trends and enhance store performance, Gap is broadening its collection. Its 1969 line will include an increased array of colors, fabrics and lengths.

First launched two years ago, 1969 was a realignment of Gap jeans’ position in the market, designed to send “the message loud and clear” that Gap was able to vend “a really great premium denim line at an affordable and accessible price” of $59 to $89, reported WWD.

Now, they are taking the next step.

“Our goal is to take it even further,” Rosella Giuliani, Gap creative director, said to WWD. “The variety has definitely increased. We offer a lot more jeans. In summer, we have a lot of shorts. We have a lot of capris. We have shirts. We have dresses. It’s more of a complete sportswear collection that happens to be made in denim fabric.”

Top on the agenda is developing a color palette to go beyond indigo denim. The collection increased its hues of gray, pale blue and white – perfect for the coming summer months. Lengths were shortened, and fabrics have gone lighter weight. Gap is even flirting with its shortest inseam ever: 3.5 inches on a pair of shorts.

“It’s still very wearable,” Giuliani told WWD. “There are a lot of [length] options, which I think is good because it gives you different reasons to buy.”

Hopes are consumers will gravitate to the higher end of the collection, especially considering soaring cotton costs, and the new options will give the brand identities that complement denim. The proof in the pudding comes this fall with the chance of a capsule sportswear collection, with 1969 stores planned in Los Angeles and New York as testing grounds for concepts ranging from superskinny fits to slouchy slim fits.

These innovative moves are stabs at making Gap a leading and trusted destination for denim, boosting store sales, which had dropped 2 percent in the quarter ending in January.

“We’re still not there, and our brand presidents know that, our merchants know that, our designers know that,” chief executive officer Glenn Murphy said to WWD.

For more information on Gap, visit www.gap.com.