Stupid Gap on every corner’. Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc’s forgivably-lazy like-Garfield character from Friends) says, when he fails to criticise his friend’s shirt because he finds himself wearing the exact same one. Since the launch of its first store on Ocean Avenue in San Fran in 1969, Gap has been bridging gaps of generations, of gender and of body fat. Absolutely anybody can pull that solid-coloured, hoodied sweatshirt over their heads. Is there anything more casually conscious than that trademarked logo that sits as a contrast on the chest and the two soft strings that dangle on either side of it. To save the suave from a slow day, all one needs to do is open the wardrobe and reach out to the crew neck t-shirt in dull grey with the brand’s name splashed on it in hot-pink, and pair it with the paperbag waist-pants square folded right under it.
Up until last week, the brand’s appeal in India was largely due to the fact that it wasn’t available to the Indian who doesn’t travel overseas and certainly doesn’t have relatives abroad. With the launch of the Gap store at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, New Delhi, even that Indian has access to whatever has been going on the other side of immigration checkposts, for almost half a century.
Are we looking at dollar rates? “The pricing in India is in line with the international market while remaining very price competitive for the Indian consumer,” explains Oliver Kaye, business head, Gap India. “You will find tees at the starting price points of Rs 799 and denims at the starting price point of Rs 1,999 which is priced very well,” he adds. Gap has come to India in collaboration with Arvind Lifestyle Brands Limited, which has exclusive Licensing and marketing rights for various international apparel brands like Arrow, US Polo Assn, Tommy Hilfiger, Gant and private labels like Excalibur, Newport and Cherokee.
The 11,000 sq ft store is divided up like a house with sections for the whole family. There are floor-length dresses and knee-length skirts, some lycra some linen. In muted shades, they they hang from fresh rods. Scattered all around are polo T-shirts, dri-fit tanks and shorts splattered with colour. The denims deepen in the same colour and resemble the depths of a true blue swimming pool. Boot, straight or skinny high-rise, every stroke can be found here. The highest waist size of women’s denims is 33, which isn’t as XL as Gap could get.
About 40 per cent of the store is dedicated to children and infants. To get the little ones kickstarted into fashion, there are cutesy Gap caps, rompers, onesies booties, sandals, bibs, sleeping sheets and tiny t-shirts with glittery stars, melons and giraffes sticking out of them.
Will the brand’s charm wear off once it’s easily available (Romantic Conundrum 101) or will it standardise wardrobes like Zara has? “We’re looking at opening approximately 40 stores in the next 5 years, specifically 5 in this year. The key cities are Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore,” reveals Kaye.
For now, such is the hold of Gap’s reverence over its believers that even the bulky hoodies look inviting, actually irresistible, in the midst of a deathly heatwave.