| Want
premium denim but not the premium price? Gap says it has
filled the gap — promising the best-fitting premium
jeans you can find for less than $60 — with its
revamped 1969 denim line that hit stores Thursday.
The entire inventory of
women's jeans will be replaced, with six new
higher-quality styles. Seven fresh men's styles also are
rolling out. (Certain washes are more than $60.)
"(Gap) denim just didn't feel like we had moved it
into the way people were wearing denim today,"
Patrick Robinson observed when he became executive vice
president of design at Gap two years ago. "It was
still about a casual jean."
His mission to change
that: "The fit had to be rock star," he said.
Thanks to better fabric, he says, waistbands hug the
back when you sit and the size stays true after a few
hours' wear.
Tricks of the $125-and-up
jeans trade were borrowed. "With the bootleg style,
we dropped the knee, making you look taller, and sewed
the inseam so it hugs your leg, for a longer line."
For women, the relaunch
presents a relatively low-risk way to finally try out a
curve-clinger: the Always Skinny style.
"We believe skinny
jeans are never going away," Robinson adds, saying
they're now a classic for women and men. (Lest you
hyperventilate, there's also the soft, slouchy and
distressed Boyfriend style.) |
