Archive for March 2011

    March 30, 2011 12:00 AM by Corey Lyons

    Life, Untucked


    I have this FEAR. It’s bigger than me, too.

    What if I were unable to wear my shirt untucked to the office each day?

    It’s an idea that makes sweat beads do laps on my forehead. I’ve been wearing my dress shirts untucked since I started here five-plus years ago. It’s one of the unheralded little perks at working for a company that strongly influenced the nation-sweeping cult known as … casual Friday.

    I recall, recently, leaving for work while my grandmother was at the house. MISTAKE, man. I had my shirt unspooled over a pair of beat-up denim. She looked at me as if I were an upturned train, smoke pouring from its windows.

    Cool thing is, we also dress up at headquarters. Especially the women. Visit our café and you may as well feel teleported into a glossy Prada ad. People wearing full-on suits and ties here get raised eyebrows. (“Secret service?”)

    Btw, it’s been fascinating to experience the trends in men’s shirts since I started here – from parachute-bulk to slim fit to produced specifically to accommodate untuckers like me.

    So, the fear thing. Do you share this? Will you continue to wear your shirt over your belt? When’s the appropriate time to grow up and give up this concept? EVER?

    March 26, 2011 12:00 AM by Rob Gagnon, V.P. Gap.com

    Love Japan. Lift Japan.


    “What can we do?”  That simple question from an employee started the ball rolling on an idea to design t-shirts to help support the relief effort in Japan.
     
    Designers, interns, store managers… the grassroots effort grew.  And in less than a week – the special Japan relief t-shirts are ready.
     
    When you buy the t-shirt online or in one of a dozen Gap flagship stores, the profits are donated to GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.  

    In the elevator or lunchroom… not a day goes by where we don’t think and talk about our co-workers, friends, and family in the devastated region.   A t-shirt isn’t much, but it will help. It all starts with the thought, “What can we do?”

     

     

    March 21, 2011 3:03 PM by Sara Davis, Gap Inc. Direct

    A Picture Worth a ...


    The women who make our clothes are incredibly inspiring to me. I had a chance to meet some of them, up close, when I volunteered to take their pictures at two Gap Inc. factories in Bangalore.

    I felt honored to meet the women behind our P.A.C.E. program, who work tirelessly to create the garments I photograph every day as part of my own job – I shoot many of the product visuals you see on oldnavy.com.

    This photo was one I took of Komola, who is at the right, offering direction. She’d been recently promoted to manager-in-training and had already become an influential leader on the factory floor. Until that point, all the managers I’d met were men.

    I watched Komola interact with the women. She connected with them, gained their trust as a teacher. I equate her success, her confidence and assertiveness, to P.A.C.E. It’s a real example of how we can make a difference in the lives of garment workers – giving them a chance to advance in places where that’s often a rare concept.

    This picture reminds me, all the time, about the inter-connectedness of our company’s work, how Komola and I, at opposite ends of the world, from a factory to a studio in San Francisco, can feel proud of the opportunities ahead.

    March 14, 2011 5:13 PM by Bobbi Silten, Head of Global Responsibility and President, Gap Foundation, Gap Inc.

    Join our Japan relief effort.


    We have co-workers, friends, and family in Japan.  Watching the devastation on video and in photos is painful. But they don’t have to leave us feeling powerless.

    Now that we have confirmed that all of our employees in Tokyo, Sendai and surrounding areas are accounted for and safe, we are focused on relief efforts.

    Relief agencies say that, for now, funds to help with emergency supplies are most useful. So, Gap Foundation is making an initial contribution of $200,000 (USD). Because of the worsening weather and rolling blackouts, we’ve decided to make a $1.1 million (USD) donation of Gap winter clothing to help people stay warm.

    Our employees are eager to help. Their donations will be matched by Gap Inc.  This money will support emergency relief and humanitarian efforts through Global Giving's Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. You can make a donation by clicking here.

    (image source: www.televisionbroadcast.com)

    March 9, 2011 4:25 PM by Lydia Markoff

    Glamour girls go Gap


    Gap’s Glamour-ous Turn on Reality TV

    Four young women in New York City with exciting jobs in fashion, two days to put a major photo shoot together, a million things that could go wrong … and only one way to see it all. That’s Glamour Girls, the new reality show created by Gap and Glamour magazine, available exclusively on the iPad.

    The four ten-minute episodes chronicle the efforts of Sarah, Jenna, Anda and Masha as they race against the clock to get the magazine’s spring ad campaign -- which features glamour.com’s Young & Posh bloggers -- done in time. Showcasing some of the most covetable items from Gap’s spring collection  and sure to connect with Sarahs, Jennas, Andas and Mashas everywhere, it’s wild fun for reality junkies and fashionistas alike.

    And just think: All the styles you see on the show are shoppable as you watch, so we non-reality-stars can get these looks with just a few taps on the iPad (minus all the stress and drama!). Whew!

     

    March 4, 2011 12:15 PM by Matthew Gregg, market manager, Gap Inc. Middle East/North Africa

    The world's largest tent


    It’s built to withstand the forces of nature. It’s the world’s largest of its kind. And it stands proud in the centre of Kazakhstan’s new capital city, Astana.

    Still guessing? I bet you are.

    I’m talking about the largest, transparent tent structure in the world – inside of which we opened our first Gap store in Kazakhstan, in the Khan Shatyr, or “Royal Marquee.”

    Honestly, this has got to rank as one of the most original shopping malls in the world. Still being honest here: It’s breathtaking, strange and beautiful, all at once.

    I’d know. Approaching to the mall on my first visit, this massive thing rose out of the earth as if the circus had set up permanently. I was dumbstruck. How can we create something so stunning and atypical from steel and glass? The snow was falling at the time (it often does in Astana) and that seemed a fitting companion to the structure’s icy beauty.

    This shopping mall dome was built to handle extremes in temperatures from +35oC to -28oC. It’s larger than 10 football stadiums and includes an indoor beach resort and a boating river.

    To get our first Gap franchise store opened here, we had some unique problems, which goes with the territory of going global: heavy snow, freezing temps and language barriers. This made things "interesting" as we hustled ahead of the opening, our arms piled high with jeans and khaki.

    I bet Doris and Don Fisher, who founded Gap more than 40 years ago, never would have imagined greeting customers by saying, “Salem,” inside a shopping mall under the world’s largest tent.

    March 2, 2011 4:55 PM by John Ermatinger - President, Asia Pacific Region, Gap Inc.

    Konnichiwa Ginza!

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     皆様、こんにちは！Minasama Konnichiwa! 

     It’s been a whirlwind of excitement here in Japan with the opening of our Gap flagship store in Ginza today – we gave away hundreds of jeans to eager customers and our pre-opening event and ribbon cutting ceremony were attended by celebrity guests, including budding fashionista Avril Lavigne and model Izumi Mori.

    Ginza is one of the most prominent retail shopping districts in the world...yes, the world and as the leader of Gap Inc’s Asia region, I’m thrilled to present our newest flagship as open and ready for business.

    If you’ve been following our growth around the globe, it won’t surprise you to know that we’re not new to Japan. In fact we’ve been in here for more than 15 years.  From the launch of our first store to today’s Ginza opening… I have to say Japan’s shoppers are pushing us to be even more innovative with the store experience and clothing lines.

    Japanese consumers are among the most astute fashion consumers in the world, and also in Asia. Japan’s shoppers expect to find American casual style clothes that can be worn in different places – to work, going out, and of course on the fashionable streets of Ginza. They use the term “fast fashion” but make no mistake – they don’t mean throwaway clothes that go out of style in a few months.  Consumers here demand quality, versatility, and enduring substance – and they expect that from us. 

    Where are we headed next? Hong Kong.  And keep an eye out for Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Outlet channels in Asia. We look forward to growing to seeing how you, our new and long-time customers individualize and personalize our clothes. We have no doubt you will make us look good.

    どうもありがとうございます! Domo arrigato gozaimasu and happy shopping!

    March 1, 2011 12:10 PM by Melissa Fifield, Director, Environmental Affairs

    More than what’s on the label.


    I help lead Gap Inc.’s environmental sustainability program. I know – “sustainability” is one of those overused corporate words.

    What it really means is that, as a company, we care about the social and environmental impacts of our business. That’s not a new concept for Gap Inc. Nor is it a fad.

    In fact, it’s a growing practice within the $1.4 trillion global apparel market. People want to know how their buying decisions affect the planet and its people.

    We get it. Which is why a group of companies and other interested organizations – including ours – have launched the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. 

    We all promise to work together to transform the ways in which clothes and footwear are designed and manufactured to reduce environmental impact on the people and places where we do business around the world.

    That “impact” is largely in the supply chain – the interconnected links that lead a raw boll of cotton to be spun into yarn, to be woven into fabric that’s dyed and washed, then cut and sewn into a pair of jeans.  We all have opportunities to make things better – from the water used to irrigate the cotton crops, to the chemicals and dyes in the fabric mill process.  As just one example, we’re working with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to implement best practices – such as reusing steam from the fabric dyeing process – to conserve energy and water in fabric mills.

    Because to truly make a difference, we think it’s most powerful when we partner with other experts and apparel companies who share our concerns.

    That’s how our Clean Water Program was created.  And that’s why we think the Sustainable Apparel Coalition will make a difference.

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