To debut its new collaboration with New York designer Sandy Liang, Gap is inviting audiences right into a whimsical world that celebrates girlhood and creativeness.
The limited-edition Hole x Sandy Liang assortment, launching on Oct. 10, contains girls’s and youngsters’s attire that blends the retailer’s traditional model with Liang’s playful, hyperfeminine aesthetic. It consists of items akin to a pleated denim mini skirt, a vegan fur crop denim jacket, and a bow-adorned hoodie.
To advertise the gathering, Hole is releasing its first animated movie, marking a artistic shift from latest promoting that’s featured choreographed dances, catchy soundtracks, and superstar ambassadors such as Gwyneth Paltrow and girl group Katseye.
Animated by visible artist Annie Choi, the advert is about in New York Metropolis’s Decrease East Aspect, on the road the place Liang’s father has a Cantonese restaurant known as Congee Village. Above the restaurant, a younger Liang’s style desires come to life by way of a magical closet.
Although the fantastical animation is a primary for Hole, it’s typical of the retailer’s method mixing nostalgia with modernity, mentioned chief advertising officer (CMO) Fabiola Torres.
“In the event you’re a millennial, you keep in mind when these kind of animations had been related,” Torres informed ADWEEK. “Hole at all times has these cues from a special decade in our artistic.”
The Liang partnership made sense as a result of the designer is a longtime fan of Hole who performs with childhood nostalgia and has cross-generational attraction, Torres mentioned.
“It’s two worlds colliding by way of confidence, creativity, and individuality,” she added. “[Liang] is a millennial mother now, and she or he connects with younger audiences as nicely. It feels so Sandy, however so Hole on the similar time.”
The comeback tour continues
That is Hole’s newest buzzy collaboration because it continues a advertising technique to regain cultural relevance amongst each older followers and youthful generations. In August, it launched a group with baggage model Béis, whereas different style partnerships have included Harlem’s Trend Row, Dôen, Madhappy, and Palace.
“Collaborations at all times deliver that spark for the model, driving gross sales however relevancy on the similar time,” Torres mentioned.
Dealing with sluggish gross sales, Hole’s marketing revamp started with the arrival of former Mattel exec Richard Dickson as CEO of mother or father firm Hole Inc. in 2023. Torres and inventive director Zac Posen joined in 2024.
