NEW YORK — Your favorite Gap jeans are gone. What they’ve been replaced with, boasts Patrick Robinson, the company’s executive vice president of design, are jeans “that will change your life.”
The retailer literally scrapped every single pattern it had for jeans, ranging from infant to adult, and started again from scratch. Some of the nicknames for the new 1969 Premium Jeans styles are the same, including “Curvy” and “Long and Lean,” but the cut, fabric, washes and fit are different.
Prices are a little higher, too: They start at $54.50 for men’s and $59.50 for women. They hit U.S. stores Thursday.
For women, the rear view was important — it’s the first thing a woman checks out, says Rada Shadick, Gap’s senior director of technical design. Eliminating gaping backs at the waist and extra pouches at the top of the inner thigh and getting rid of any “back drag” — volume that goes from the seat to the top of the rear thigh — were all priorities.
For men, it’s all about comfort, so there is still room in the thigh. Mr. Robinson personally favors the slim-leg “Authentic” cut and says he made it a priority to turn Gap’s jeans into a premium denim collection.
“Gap was giving you jeans for only one part of your life — the casual. Denim has changed,” he says. “I now need jeans for casual, brunch with friends, going to a bar, going on a date and going to work, and so do you.”
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