In the Red
(LONDON) Katie Grand has been enlisted by the Gap to curate a special collection of (Product) RED clothing and accessories for World AIDS Day. The designers, who hail from all corners of the fashion industry and include Giles Deacon, Pierre Hardy, Stephen Jones, and Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, were each asked to develop new versions of their respective brand's iconic products while incorporating Gap values of quality, desirability, and accessibility.
The results are a creative and must-have lineup of pieces that will go on sale in Gap's London and Paris flagship stores, as well as Colette, Paris, and Dover Street Market on Dec. 1, commemorating Worlds AIDS Day. In recognition of the occasion, 50 percent of profits from the sale of the products will go to the Global Fund to help fight AIDS in Africa, with a focus on providing anti-retroviral drugs to women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
The collection includes a significant series of T-shirts and tank tops each priced at £19.50, or $40, from the following brands: Giles Deacon, who reinterpreted his "Mouse" graphic tee in grey and pink for the project; ck Calvin Klein, who's offering a double-layered tank in grey jersey and men's and women's tees; makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury, whose shirt bears large, bold, close-up portraits shot specially by the fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø; Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, who Grand consults for, whose design in fine jersey features a Rorschach-style grey and black blot print; House of Holland's Henry Holland, who designed his whimsical pieces in red, navy, and grey; and a Beth Ditto tee designed by Pop Magazine, the fashion-forward title which Grand founded.
"Throughout my adult life I have seen the effects of AIDS at close hand," said Grand, who oversaw the project from inviting the designers to take part to editing the final line-up. "So to be asked to curate this project with Gap and (RED) has been an honor and a privilege."
As for accessories, Grand worked with Mulberry--where she was recently named creative director--to rework the label's Roxanne bag in red and grey sweatshirt jersey versions for £85, or $175. Pierre Hardy, who created a capsule collection of shoes for the San Francisco, Calif.-based retailer (and whose designs are now rumored to be making their way to Gap stores in the U.S. next spring), created a £55 ($113) classic flat shoe in red satin, while milliner Stephen Jones designed a traditional men's fishing hat (£12.50, or $26) and a pack of three printed headbands (£5, or $10). Accessories expert Katie Hillier also designed a navy jersey bag with red ribbon detail based on an inside-out sweatshirt that will retail for £50, or $103.
"Working with great designers to help raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in Africa has been an amazing opportunity," Grand added. "Creating the collection has been a lot of fun, too. It's not very often you get the chance to take designers from fashion's more exclusive areas and make them accessible to a wider audience through a high-street icon." Stephen Sunnucks, president of Gap Inc. Europe, added, "We think the role-call of talent represents a cross-section of contemporary fashion--brands both emerging and established, from household names to niche, united in a project that will help some of the most vulnerable people in the world."
The collaboration will be fêted this Thursday in London with a dinner hosted by Grand and Sunnucks at Bistrotheque.
