Gap Fires Head Designer

Gap has been and is experiencing some issues. Like most companies attempting to solve their problems, Gap, Inc. looked towards their executives. The first place they attacked was merchandising; “Gap Dismisses Design Chief as Brand’s Slow Sales Persist” reports “three months ago… [The Gap] fired the top business-side executive overseeing its Gap division”. Now, with sale recovery being slow, Gap fired Patrick Robinson, its head designer.

Robinson has an impressive design history. According to the article, he’s “designed for Paco Rabanne, Perry Ellis, Giorgio Armani, and Anne Klein, and had been nominated for a Council of Fashion Designers of America award, the industry’s equivalent of an Oscar.” The assumption was a designer with this history could turn around Gap. He joined in 2007 at a time in which the Gap became a lost brand amongst the other basic, young, trendy, competitive brands.

According to the article, Robinson did a good job at creating single popular clothing pieces but didn’t do a good job at creating complementary pieces into an outfit. “But tops never seemed to go with bottoms, and dresses and outerwear were puzzling, too.”

The Gap annual sales decline started before Robinson and continues into this year; Old Navy and Banana Republic, both under Gap, Inc. are doing okay. Gap will look for a replacement and “the head of children’s design will oversee adult clothing”. The response from Glenn Murphy, the CEO of Gap Inc.: “Our leaders of the new Gap Global Creative Center are taking the necessary steps to compete and win around the world”

While the article and Gap, Inc. seem to blame their head designer and their merchandising, the hiring of Robinson may have been their mistake. He has the history of a high fashion designer, with Perry Ellis possibly being the closet to Gap, and he’s hired to design for a company that is supposed to be trendy, simple, and basic. I’m not familiar with his designs but the Gap may have expected Robinson to elevate the brand to the levels of his previous employers. 

Hopefully, Gap has solved their problem. The good news is the problem may not be Gap, Inc.; Old Navy and Banana Republic seem to be recovering. Unfortunately, if the dismissal doesn’t solve the issue, Gap, Inc. might have to accept that the Gap brand needs a complete overhaul.