Gap Inc. Names Zac Posen Creative Director

Hole Inc. has put its artistic future within the palms of Zac Posen, who has been named artistic director of the American retail chain that additionally owns Outdated Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic.

Posen, 43, will be part of the American retailer’s govt management group and function the “cultural curator and artistic accomplice” to CEO Richard Dickson, the corporate mentioned Monday. He may also function chief artistic officer of Outdated Navy, the place he’ll lead design, merchandising and advertising, reporting to Haio Barbeito, Outdated Navy’s model president and chief govt.

His appointment marks the primary time Hole Inc. has employed a artistic lead on the portfolio degree and is its first style insider rent since Armani alum Patrick Robinson exited his function because the Hole model’s chief designer in 2011.

In Posen, Dickson mentioned he noticed a mixture of cultural savvy and technical ability that will assist Hole get again on monitor.

“Zac’s mixture of technical design, creativity, in addition to an consciousness of popular culture will actually lend properly to the longer term endeavours of Hole Inc.,” Dickson advised BoF in an unique interview forward of the announcement. “[His] creativity backed by Hole’s expertise and infrastructure can be an unimaginable unlock for us.”

To observers within the style business, nonetheless, Posen might be a puzzling alternative. Very similar to Hole itself, it has been years because the former wunderkind inhabited the cultural zeitgeist.

Posen seized style’s highlight as a precocious 20-something within the early aughts. A New York Metropolis native, he studied at Parsons and later, Central Saint Martins. In London, his expertise was noticed by none aside from Naomi Campbell; the supermodel would develop into the primary of many well-known girls Posen would gown in his profession, cementing his identify as a purple carpet mainstay.

Whereas Posen was identified for fantastical robes in female silhouettes, he additionally cultivated a private celeb. He embraced Instagram — his present follower depend exceeds 2 million — and between 2012 and 2018, he was a decide on “Venture Runway.” He frequently attended the Met Gala alongside his muses, and in 2017, he was the topic of a documentary, “Home of Z,” that examined the tides of his profession.

By then, his label’s relevance was on the wane. His destiny was intertwined with the declining fortunes of upscale American shops equivalent to Barneys, which stocked his collections. In late 2019, days after Barneys was offered in a chapter public sale to licensing agency Genuine Manufacturers Group and introduced it will shut its shops, Posen’s board mentioned his model would additionally shutter. The label’s majority proprietor, Ron Burkle of personal fairness agency Yucaipa Firms, had been buying the model for months. Within the following 12 months, the Zac Posen identify and IP was offered to licensor Centric Manufacturers.

Retail Expertise

Whereas Posen’s most seen work has centred round Hollywood — his most up-to-date public work concerned designing costumes for a scene within the tv drama “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” — he has had expertise designing for a struggling mall staple earlier than. Between 2014 and 2020, Posen served as womenswear artistic director at Brooks Brothers. That experiment wasn’t sufficient to save lots of the model, which filed for chapter in 2020 and was acquired by ABG; not like Barneys, it continues to function as a retailer. Posen has additionally designed capsule collections for David’s Bridal and uniforms for Delta Airways.

“Zac may be very good and he’s not going to come back in and design cocktail clothes,” mentioned style marketing consultant Robert Burke, who was an govt at Bergdorf Goodman when it first started to inventory Posen’s label. “What Hole is getting with Zac is a strong, strong expertise, but additionally somebody who understands the significance of selling and positioning a model.”

Hole’s challenges could dwarf even these of Brooks Brothers. The retail empire has undergone a number of turnaround efforts below a revolving door of CEOs, none of whom had been capable of arrest the corporate’s sliding gross sales. Its final try at cultural relevance, a collaboration with Yeezy, was marred by behind-the-scenes rigidity and product that confused core Gap customers, earlier than ending abruptly in September 2022. One other anticipated tie-up with New York designer Telfar Clemens did not materialise.

The corporate’s different manufacturers are additionally struggling. Athleta and Outdated Navy, brilliant spots for a few years, have stalled. A refresh at Banana Republic was obtained positively by some style insiders, however hasn’t noticeably revitalised that model’s monetary efficiency, both.

Dickson is betting that Posen’s function as a long-term worker moderately than collaborator can be extra impactful in orchestrating a renaissance, notably at Outdated Navy.

“I believe you’ll begin to see lots of contemporary and however inspired-by-heritage approaches, and a a lot cleaner and concise communication popping out of our manufacturers with a revised aesthetic,” he mentioned. “These are all elements for what we name model reinvigoration. There’s not a silver bullet in the present day that may clear up all the problems.”