"Fashion is what you're offered four times a year by designers. And style is what you choose." —Lauren Hutton
Thursday Styles in The NY Times asked the question… “Can This Jacket Save Gap? “ The jacket in question is born of Gap’s mashup with Kanye West.
I am not only hopelessly behind on celebrity matters, but delightedly behind. (I know Kanye and a Kardashian were briefly wed and that’s a gracious plenty.) “The jacket, which is made of recycled blue nylon looks sort of like a trash bag. Also a deflated balloon.” The story continues. “The jacket itself arrived like a puffer from another planet… It is unisex and oversize, with a squishy tactile look…It has no closures or additions, which may be interesting from a conceptual point of view but slightly problematic from a functional one.” And by the way, it costs $200. “To a certain extent, of course, it doesn’t matter if the jacket is flattering, or pragmatic. It is a first, and this is a historic collaboration from both a business and cultural perspective, so it will serve as a sort of artifact, or totem.” Hum. Roosevelt and Churchill and Watson and Crick might be twitching in their graves at this new bit of collaborative history.
I liked Gap, formerly known as the maker of American basics, back when they purveyed the basics- white t-shirts, Levi 501s, chinos and chambray shirts. When they went “off road”, I took the off-ramp. My strong reaction to the new “round jacket” is mere confirmation that no one will ever accuse me of being a fashionista or trend-setter. This jacket feels like the emperor having no clothes and maybe being glad of it. But if the Yeezy Gap jacket rescues Gap… serve up the crow! I’ll be first in line.
I’m getting in other people’s business and I’m not on that committee, but maybe Thursday Styles should be rebranded as Thursday Trends, Fraught Fashions or maybe the classic standby- caveat emptor.