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Hi! Hope you’re having a great Sunday, and apologies for the late send. We visited friends in Connecticut this weekend and hit traffic on the way back, and I contemplated not even sending this — but I absolutely need to talk to someone about this Gap x LoveShackFancy launch, and since you made the decision to sign up for this newsletter, it’s gonna be you.
Gap officially announced its collaboration with LoveShackFancy on Tuesday, even though we already knew it was coming. Ciara was announced as the face of the collection, along with her son Future, 9, and daughter Sienna, 6, in a PEOPLE exclusive.
Why would LoveShackFancy — a brand dubbed by Puck’s Lauren Sherman as “Shabby Chic but make it Gen Z fashion” — tap Ciara, who, at age 37, is neither Gen Z nor particular Shabby Chic?
Last year, Jessica Testa covered the rise of LoveShackFancy for the New York Times, writing that the “media narrative around LoveShackFancy is that it has become a hot new Gen Z brand — a perception that was amplified during the TikTok phenomenon known as Bama Rush, in which would-be sorority pledges at the University of Alabama shared their OOTDs (outfits of the day) with varyingly intense Southern accents.” But LSF is enormously popular among millennials and Xers, too; the Times quotes several 40-something self-identified “LoveShackFancy groupies” who traveled from New Jersey to Nashville just to visit the store on opening day.
More than most of its peers, LoveShackFancy is selling an atmosphere and attitude, an invitation to what Ms. Cohen has called “the ultimate girls’ club.” Depending on the shopper’s age — customers generally range from tweens to 40-somethings — sometimes the vibe is romantic and innocent. (The little girls’ selection is generally considered “dad approved,” as Ms. Lilien explained — girlish without being promiscuous.) Other times the aesthetic is cottagecore on ketamine.
In other words, casting Ciara and her kids — who, together, represent millennials (Ciara, 37), Gen Z (Future, 9), and Gen Alpha (Sienna, 6) — was brilliant. The rollout was less so.
Gap announced on Tuesday that the line would debut on Friday at 9 a.m. on both Gap.com and LoveShackFancy.com. But on Thursday, Vogue published an article about the collaboration that linked to pieces that were available to purchase. (Curiously, if you searched LoveShackFancy on Gap.com, nothing came up — the products appeared to be only available via Vogue’s links.)
By 9 a.m. on Friday, when the collab was supposed to go live, everything was already sold out. And fans were absolutely furious.
It didn’t matter that the collection itself was mid, at best. I’m not a LoveShackFancy girl, but I do understand the appeal of the brand. While LSF’s signature florals are vivid and fun, the prints in this collection are subdued and generic, and while LSF’s ruffles and frills are thoughtfully-placed and well-designed, these are, as one TikTok commenter said, “Forever 21 2016.” (My husband saw me scrolling through the collection on my laptop, and he deemed it “frumpcore.”)
Even though I’m not into the collection aesthetically, I’m super impressed by the entire strategy (minus maybe the Vogue thing, but even that feels kind of clever — it got Vogue to cover the collaboration).
This partnership gave LSF mega-mainstream exposure — the line is carried in 200 Gap stores nationwide — and it also brought two very key customers into Gap’s orbit: moms and Gen Zs.
Today we’re talking about:
Madhappy’s foray into print
Madewell’s collab with cool-girl stylist Molly Dickson
Billie’s female empowerment board game
Sprite’s AI chatbot
Smirnoff Ice
Bubble perms
Rat tail summer
Anti-sunscreen crusaders
“Planet of the Bass”
Anthropologie's $128 Bottega dupe
Strawberry Girl Summer
Borax
Plus everything else that happened this week in brands, trends, and internet culture. Before we jump in, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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