Gap Fires Patrick Robinson, The WTF? Press Pitch I Received Today, Meet The Next Joan Smalls, My Blog On Fashion Indie + More!

Will Gap Ever Get It Right?
Remember when Gap was cool? I do. Its campaigns (Khakis Swing, Mellow Yellow and Everybody In Leather come to mind) were the textbook definition of successful advertising. My very first job was retail sales at Gap, and I was so cool because of it — but I can’t say the same for today’s generation. In fact, today’s generation is likely to find Gap Inc. the subject of a case study in their strategic planning class assessing what went wrong. That’s another post, but what I will say is that things continue to go south for the company.

Gap recently announced that it would shut down 200 stores worldwide. Today, NY Mag announced that Patrick Robinson, executive VP of Gap Global Design, was fired with effective dismissal. Ouch! But it’s not Patrick I’m worried about, it’s Gap. Attempting to recreate the novelty and excitement that was Gap circa 1998 is mission impossible; however, attempting to rebrand in today’s competitive market may also prove mission impossible for Gap.

Gap, when will you come to your senses and appoint Alexander Wang as VP Design? That’s this decade’s equivalent to your  ’90s cool. Duh.

The WTF? Press Pitch
Today, I received the following in my inbox (keep in mind that that I’m the fashion editor at AskMen):

Hi, Sachin

Men’s Health is offering guys a leg up this season with a feature in the May issue on the right and wrong ways to wear shorts. Our Fashion Director, Brian Boye is available to offer tips, suggestions and ways to work the trend without looking like Richard Simmons. Any interest in an exclusive interview with Brian Boye on shorts style? I’d love any feedback you have. Shout out to schedule an interview!

This, of course, inspired me to write the following:

Hi Jim,

AskMen’s Fashion Editor, Sachin Bhola, would like to present GQ with an exclusive opportunity to interview him about how he and Gisele will become best friends. Would love to hear your feedback!

Meet The Next Joan Smalls
I’m all about the ethnic fashion model. First came Lakshmi Menon, then Joan Smalls and now Awa Ceesay from France! Check out her profile on Models.com. (I posted this photo on Facebook and my friend Corey Kelly wrote, “Is that me?!” He’s spot on, because if we were girls, we’d wanna look like Awa.

My Blog On Fashion Indie!
Today, Fashion Indie did a feature on how to transform your wardrobe for the warmer days ahead based on the advise of 6 style bloggers — and mine was included. Click here to check out what I had to say!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
Here’s the best (if only) song to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!