Dive Brief:
- Gap and Summer Fridays are launching an apparel collection, marking the first apparel collaboration for the DTC beauty brand, according to a Monday press release.
- Priced between $28 and $98, the 20-piece collection features fleece sets, soft knits, matching pajamas and accessories. Its colorways draw inspiration from Summer Fridays’ signature hues: pink sugar, vanilla, cherry and Jet Lag Mask blue.
- The collection will be available starting Friday on Gap’s website and in select Gap stores across the U.S. and Canada, per the release. A Summer Fridays beauty bundle has been created for Gap x Summer Fridays as a gift-with-purchase.
Dive Insight:
Gap and Summer Fridays want to celebrate “comfort, confidence, and self-care” with a collab that is dropping in time for the holiday season.
“Gap and Summer Fridays are built on the same idea — that products designed to make you feel good and bring comfort and joy never go out of style,” Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap, said in a statement. “This collaboration celebrates everyday essentials in a way that feels fresh, modern, and authentic.”
To celebrate, the brands are transforming the Gap store at The Grove in Los Angeles on Friday into a gifting pop-up, with exclusive programming for Gap cardholders and rewards members. The brands have also created a film in honor of the collection featuring actor Barbie Ferreira.
Gap over the past few years has been struggling with cultural relevance and sales declines. The brand’s net sales have fallen by billions compared to their early 2000s peak. But once Richard Dickson took the helm of Gap Inc. in August 2023, he set out to “make these brands matter more.”
Indeed, Gap catapulted its brand back into the public eye this summer with its “Better in Denim” ad featuring the girl group Katseye. The 90-second ad, set to “Milkshake” by Kelis, has garnered more than 54 million YouTube views to date.
So far, Gap Inc.’s turnaround efforts appear to be paying off. In its third quarter earnings report, the company reported a 3% bump in net sales year over year to $3.9 billion, and it achieved the highest comparable sales growth rate in the past four years at 5%.
As for Gap, the namesake brand reported a 6% year-over-year jump in sales to $951 million, and its comparable sales rose 7%, marking the eighth straight quarter of comp growth.
Along with Gap’s Summer Fridays partnership, parent Gap Inc. has made other moves aimed at the beauty market. In September, the company announced a series of executive hires to oversee its beauty and accessories push. That same month, Old Navy announced plans to launch beauty and personal care products at 150 locations, with some stores offering staffed shop-in-shops.
