Why I might start shopping at GAP
Image from RyanThorpe.com
With fall in the air, or at least in every store window I pass by, it made me aware of my need for a new pair of jeans. Not being one to spend a lot on a pair of jeans, I tend to not "shop" for jeans, but rather just "pick up" a pair of jeans. The process involves looking at the color, trying them on, and if they fit I buy them, done. One pair of jeans added to the wardrobe.
I cannot remember the last time I had stepped foot in a GAP store. Maybe its the haunting stark white ads that used to inundate TV, often filled with celebrities that drove me to look away. I think it was more the plain styles that adorn the racks.
Whatever it was that made me overlook GAP before changed when I saw their latest, very graphic campaign for their new 1969 line of jeans. I needed a new pair, and the campaigned sucked me in—I am a sucker for catchy design. Sure the 1969 origins hearken back to the origins of the GAP brand, but it also suggests a different mindset. Who could forget, especially with the current anniversary celebration of the first moon landing, what else 1969 entices. Love, hope, Woodstock, etc.
Meandering thoughts aside about the bigger meanings behind the campaign, I tried some jeans on. They fit okay, and when I was changing into my shorts that I wore into the store I saw this! (below)
Wow! Something so routine and usually crammed into a 3 tag sandwich somewhere on the waistband was designed and printed on the inside pocket. I had to have them now. Even if no one else sees it when I am wearing them, these jeans became something more than just my plain blue jeans.
I have always loved the simple care icons that are hidden in clothing and these ones are almost a half inch in size. Combined with some care warning and reiterating the campaign that brought me into the store the pocket was a triumph in design that will be hidden forever.
Below are some more picture from the GAP 1969 campaign concept by Ryan Thorpe. The store I was in definitely didn't look like the one below.
