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Falling for the Gap

Yes, the Gap may be having a moment, but the designer behind the current enthusiasm left the company last year. And its emphasis on marketing spectacle over merchandise substance raises questions for its latest supposed revival.

Richard Dickson
Dickson’s success at Mattel was also largely about marketing, but turning around a brand like the Gap takes time and talent. Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Sarah Shapiro
February 12, 2025

Gap is experiencing a phenomenon now—right now—that it hasn’t seen since at least the mid-aughts: genuine enthusiasm. There is legit excitement about their clothes—their denim Western shirt jacket and this mini dress in particular—from actual shoppers and cool girl influencers like Leandra Medine Cohen (who recently exalted the brand on her Substack, The Cereal Aisle), as well as a gushing appreciation in the Strategist. The Gap’s stock price is riding a wave of social media momentum and renewed cultural relevance, trading at three times its 2023 low.