It was 7:30 in the morning in San Francisco and Zac Posen was already dressed in a Supima cotton T-shirt and oversize wide wale corduroy pants.
His outfit was the first hint of his latest creation: GapStudio’s inaugural men’s collection, which launches Tuesday. The second hint came Thursday night when Nick Jonas wore a Posen-designed navy corduroy suit on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” to help tease the upcoming debut.
“Menswear has been part of the conversation since GapStudio’s inception,” said Posen, executive vice president and creative director of Gap Inc. “When we created a custom look for Timothée Chalamet that sold out almost instantly, it confirmed there was real appetite for this level of design and craftsmanship from Gap. We’ve made bespoke pieces for Michael B. Jordan and Owen Cooper, and continued to see men gravitating toward our gender-inclusive styles, like the moto jacket from our first drop. The new menswear collection builds on that energy — refined, confident, and rooted in the same modern sensibility that defines GapStudio.”
Although he’s been designing since he was a teenager and has become known for his high-end women’s collections and evening looks, until now Posen has never created menswear commercially. “I’ve always had the appetite, but never had the opportunity,” he said.
But since joining Gap last February and developing the elevated GapStudio sub-brand of womenswear, he’s finally found the right partner, he said.
Key pieces within the men’s collection will include the corduroy trousers, which will retail for $128; a white poplin shirt with covered buttons and a hidden placket for $88; a double-breasted blazer for $198; black boot trousers for $108; a tuxedo vest for $118; a blue chambray shirt for $98; a cotton T-shirt for $48; a satin icon jacket ($198) and loose satin pant ($128) in camel hair — a reimagined version of the Chalamet look; a reversible bonded faux fur car coat for $328, and a skinny tie for $38.
The line offers what Posen described as “incredible quality” pieces that “expand on the classics.” He singled out the long-sleeve T-shirt with raglan sleeves in Supima cotton, the extra-wide wale cords, boot-leg pants with matching jacket and denim shirts as among his personal standouts.
Posen said the GapStudio Menswear holiday capsule provided him with the “chance to merge my precision in tailoring with accessible pricing.” The holiday capsule blends a casual attitude with a more dressy aesthetic as evidenced by the textures, tailoring and fluid proportions in the offering.
“My work has always been rooted in proportion,” Posen said. And his time immersed in the intricacies of materials and washes of the Gap Inc. collection coupled with the experience he absorbed working as the creative director of Brooks Brothers’ mainline for several years helped him develop his menswear chops.
He joked that he’s become a “denim head,” a skill he blended with his propensity for more tailored pieces. “In my youth, I was always experimental in how I dressed,” he said. But that didn’t stop him from wearing the menswear uniform. “I wore many a suit.”
It was this juxtaposition that he drew on to create what he characterized as “a more adult balance of tailored and casual. That’s what I want to share with this collection.”
This morphing of dress and casualwear fits well into today’s menswear world, he believes. “We’re living in a revolutionary moment in menswear,” with guys more comfortable expressing their personal style through their wardrobe.
Posen is giving them that opportunity with an “elevated version developed through the lens of Gap. It pushes me in precise and intentional new ways and expands my vocabulary.”
Although the designer said the plan is to use the inaugural collection as the “base” upon which to build the future men’s assortment, he doesn’t plan on the collection ever being enormous. “It should be tight and precise,” he said, adding that GapStudio is intended to be a creative hub with more artisanal pieces. “I like the idea of scarcity,” he said.
Posen said the target customer for the collection is “style-conscious” and searching for “elevated basics to add to his existing wardrobe. It’s for the modern man who understands sophistication and detail. It feels purposeful — there’s nothing precious about it. And it’s ageless.”
Posen said that after his long fashion career, he’s embracing this opportunity and credited Gap as a corporation “taking a stance behind American artisanship.
“I’ve been in this business a long time and creativity has been my lifelong pursuit,” he said. “There have been twists along the way but I feel very fortunate to use my skills in business and craftsmanship to keep learning every day.”
