Classic Fashion Brands with New Style
Think you know Gap? Or Ann Taylor, or Talbots? These classic brands are reinventing themselves, and the results are surprisingly chic. Five stylish women sample the goods.
O, The Oprah Magazine | From the October 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
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Then: Weekend staples, wall-to-wall khakis Now: Dressy, fastidiously engineered jeans and separates "When Gap started 40 years ago, jeans were really casual," says executive vice president of design Patrick Robinson. "Now they're a $300-and-up status item." Robinson's solution: the just-launched 1969 premium-denim collection, which boasts high-end Japanese fabrics and meticulous fit for $70 or less. "I was afraid I'd be wearing 'Mom' jeans, but these are cute and sexy," says fashion stylist Ann Caruso (far right), 42, of her skinny dark-wash pair ($70). Ann also likes the slim-fitting shirt ($50), leather vest ($228), and shearling-lined boots, the latter a collaboration between Gap and French footwear designer Pierre Hardy. Hardy also made the denim wrap boots worn here by jewelry designer Zani Gugelmann (near right), 32, whose no-frills style shows in the silky shirt ($60), puffer vest ($70), and lean jeans ($60). Her bullet-shaped, jewel-encrusted pendants (Santo by Zani) unscrew to reveal a tiny scroll on which you can write your own message. Socks, Falke. |
