Welcome to Spot Check, a column by The Business of Fashion breaking down essentially the most talked-about trend and magnificence campaigns of the second and why they labored — or missed the mark.
To spotlight its denim assortment in August, Gap married Gen-Z and Millennial music, hiring Gen-Z-favourite lady group Katseye to bop to the Millennial anthem “Milkshake.”
And for the retailer’s newest spot, it went for an additional tackle multi-generational enchantment.
This week, Gap dropped its newest marketing campaign for GapStudio, its premium arm that launched in April, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and her daughter Apple Martin. In a brief video directed by artistic company Look and Julian Klincewicz, the pair talked about their relationship, private model — Martin described her personal as easy, “with a twist,” within the spot, reflecting the GapStudio items — and joked in regards to the Nineteen Nineties ensembles Martin snags from her mom’s closet. In the advert, the mother-daughter duo put on seems from GapStudio’s 38-piece autumn 2025 assortment, designed by artistic director Zac Posen, together with seamed denims, a crisp cotton shirt and a pink satin midi gown.
It’s simply the most recent instance of the model’s efforts to win again the purchasers who shopped at Gap throughout its Nineteen Nineties heyday — to whom Paltrow was an undisputed model icon — in addition to re-introduce it to those that, like Martin, wore the model as a baby.
“This generational gap bridging is really central to the brand, and something that we feel Gap can uniquely do,” stated chief government Mark Breitbard. “We’re appealing to a consumer that’s known us or grew up with us, and now the next generation is coming into the store. Often our best-selling styles are ones that mothers and daughters are both sharing.”
For Paltrow, Gap is “classic and effortless,” she stated in a press release, including that “Zac has brought a fresh perspective that makes the brand more wearable than ever.”
Casting movie star kids — recognized on-line as “nepo babies” — has change into customary observe in trend and magnificence advertising and marketing, because it virtually ensures eyeballs. Increasingly, manufacturers are tapping each guardian and youngster for these adverts: Mac Cosmetics’ “Born Famous” marketing campaign, launched in May that includes duos like mannequin Amelia Gray alongside her “Real Housewife” mom Lisa Rinna, whereas Intimissimi tapped Heidi Klum, daughter Leni Klum and her mom Erna for a marketing campaign final fall.
While casting a “nepo baby” is certain to stoke some commenters’ ire, there’s an intrinsic curiosity round seeing somebody whose delivery was as soon as introduced within the tabloids. There’s a pure story to inform inside their household historical past, which might make these well-known figures really feel extra relatable. Plus, it’s splendid for exhibiting how a model or product can work for individuals of quite a lot of ages: Through showcasing Paltrow and Martin’s present mother-daughter relationship, Gap was capable of drive dwelling the purpose that it may communicate to totally different age teams and the concept that the gathering’s Nineteen Nineties inspirations are related to younger customers at the moment.
“We felt that all the things that Gwyneth is doing, that Apple’s debut, that the combination is helpful from a brand relevance perspective as we’re reinvigorating the brand,” stated Breitbard.
GapStudio has been on the centre of a number of of Gap’s buzziest advertising and marketing moments since its April launch — and even earlier than its debut. (The inspiration for the road got here after Posen designed a customized floor-length white shirt gown for actress Anne Hathaway, which subsequently went viral and offered out inside a couple of hours.) The model dressed Laura Harrier for this yr’s Met Gala, driving $1.2 million in earned media worth, in response to influencer advertising and marketing platform CreatorIQ, and its first two collections have been launched alongside star-studded campaigns that includes prime fashions of the second, together with Alex Consani, Anok Yai and Lila Moss — daughter of Kate.
While Gap’s turnaround efforts are getting individuals speaking, gross sales progress was nonetheless flat within the second quarter. Breitbard stated Gap sees room to develop with GapStudio particularly serving to generate model warmth and add dimension to its storytelling. The hope is for the halo impact from Gap’s premium line — additionally seen with manufacturers like Uniqlo, which has launched design-forward capsules by artistic administrators together with Jonathan Anderson and Claire Waight-Keller — to assist additional cement Gap as a related cultural entity in 2025.
“It’s never been about ‘we’re going to build the biggest business we’ve ever built,’” he stated. “It’s a part of the reinvigoration and the relevance story.”