Roland's relationship
with Gap

31.03.2007
So, did you manage to get your hands on one of Roland Mouret's limited edition dresses that launched late in 2006? If, like me, you're a massive fan of Mr Mouret then this latest collaboration must have piqued your interest, but according to the numerous press articles dedicated to his latest partnership you'd think the collection had totally bombed.

OK, so it's fair to say that there wasn't actually a queue outside Gap on the day of launch (unlike previous H&M ventures) and the range was only being offered in 'key' stores, however the dresses themselves didn't fail to impress. Roland had designed the collection mainly around the smock trend and in a wintry palette of greys, blues and black although there were two striking red pieces thrown in to brighten it up (and 3 of the range were project RED garments, which was a bonus).

The prices were affordable but a little more expensive than some of Gap's usual items but what struck me the most was the fact that although I knew of the partnership via the usual fashion press, in the stores themselves the pieces were left to blend into the background. There wasn’t any sign of a window display and nothing to credit the man behind the range and to the average Gap consumer, I can understand why this collection may have not been obvious. If it was noticed then possibly for all the wrong reasons as it was true to say that the range was more fashion forward than some of the usual Gap staples.

"there wasn’t any sign of a window display and nothing to credit the man behind the range"
I’m sure that someone somewhere can explain why Gap chose to play down the partnership in store, and why the garments were left alone without any help from in store POS materials and branding but it just seems amazingly obvious?! If you want to create the hype then you need to tell people about it surely, otherwise the average Gap consumer is going to blink and miss it.

This was Roland Mourets first adventure onto the high street and I’ve no idea if there are plans for developing further collections with Gap but if I were the man in question, maybe I’d be thinking of looking for someone else who knows how to really make a splash and right now, there are no shortage of stores who fit the bill.

But all that aside, I am personally grateful that I didn’t have to undertake the usual bundle to get my hands on one or two of the pieces I fancied and I’m still happily sporting the garments as we speak.

Ms M xx