Gap announces collaboration with US brand Telfar

During Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which is currently taking place in the French capital, Gap held a party at its store on rue Tronchet to announce its new partnership with US-based brand Telfar. The unclassifiable and eclectic brand was created by African-American designer Clemens Telfar in 2005 and recently took part in Italian trade show Pitti Uomo in Florence and created a feast-like show.

Having previously navigated outside of the fashion establishment, cultivating an underground and inclusive spirit, Telfar has now joined forces with one of the largest distributors of both American and global fashion. The two brands have found that they share a common ground and say that they both uphold “a philosophy of accessibility, democratisation, and a wardrobe made up of universal and affordable basics.”

It comes as no surprise that Clemens Telfar is obsessed with Gap which built its foundations on the idea of a “normal” look. The Gap archetype is “literally everyone: [regardless of] origin, style, rich, or poor,” said Telfar. “I want to take this idea in 2020 and get my clothes out of fashion capitals and and make them available across the whole world. Gap makes that possible.”

So far, the brands have not shared any images of the collaboration save for a logo and plan to unveil more about the collection in the coming months. The ambition of the collaboration is to “co-create products which inspire freedom of expression and bring about positive change.”

Gap has previously worked with a number of cutting-edge brands to enable them to greatly expand their horizons and allied itself with AMI in 2017. Gap also reimagined its signature hoodie with brands including Balmain, DSquared2, and MSGM when it collaborated with GQ Magazine in 2018. “Collaborations are important for Gap and, by collaborating with Telfar, we hope to create a collection that is a reflection of contemporary American fashion,” said John Caruso, head of adult design at Gap.

Gap, which is in the middle of a restructuring, currently operates 1,600 exclusive brand outlets around the world and parting ways with the Old Navy chain, which currently belongs to the same group. The brand’s previous CEO Art Peck also left the brand last November and Gap is in the process of slimming down and closing 230 stores, including eight of its 30 stores in France. In the third quarter of the 2020 financial year, the group saw its sales fall by 2.2% to total $4 billion.

Gap announces collaboration with US brand Telfar

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