Though there had been mixed signals on the success of 1969 Jeans , the recent  addition of a retail location in Manhattan signals that the 1969 premium brand of Gap is doing well. The brand, recently signed a long-term lease for what will be a 2,800-square-foot Gap 1969 store at 513 Broadway, New York , between Spring and Broome streets in Soho. The shop will primarily sell the company’s Gap 1969 denim collection, along with some apparel from Gap’s regular collections.

This will be the third 1969 store for Gap in the US – the other two being Los Angeles and Chicago .  The addition of the new store seems all the more important because it is estimated that Gap has not added a new store in New York for over 7 years.

This new development is in line with the improved denim sales in US in 2010 and bodes well for the denim industry for the coming times.

Previous reports related to Gap 1969 -  Promotion Strategy , Clever Strategy   , 1969 Jeans launched ………

Here are some miscellaneous points about this launch – its promotion strategy, a video explaining the different styles in 1969 and a behind the scenes video on ‘Born to Fit’

1. Gap will rely on Facebook instead of TV ads to reach customers. Gap has created a Facebook Page . The ‘Born To Fit’ campaign is designed to make it interactive and anyone with a facebook account  can upload their photos and create  a ‘Born to ….” tagline. So you will find  photos of people with interesting taglines like ‘Born to Smile’, ‘Born to Dance’ , ‘Born to Tell Stories’   and many more .. This  widget is posted on a users facebook profile and if approved, on the Gap’s facebook page also. The idea is clear – let people create their their own widgets around Gap 1969 and share with the world. This way consumers would be themselves marketing the company’s product . Cool..
2. Gap seems to be luring the stock traders at the New York Stock Exchange to push up the Gap stock price by providing them 1200 free 1969 jeans..Well actually , it was in commemoration of Gap’s 40th Anniversary coinciding with the launch of the premium denim line.
3. Learn about Gap 1969 from Gap’s Denim architect: This is a nice video from Gap explaining the different women’s and men’s styles and why they think they are so special .

4. And here is a behind the scenes video for ‘Born to fit ‘ campaign.

Perhaps to stress  the premium denim label of these jeans , the launch has been made at Robertson Boulevard -which is one of the most important retail destinations for denim in L.A  – in a heritage inspired  denim pop-up store with a number of celebrities  including Ashlee Simpson -Wentz, Emma Roberts, Molly Sims, Anthony Kiedis and Halle Berry  in attendance.

So don’t you need to spend  $200 for a jeans with great fit and fabrics and finishes ?

Answer would be yes if you believe what  Gap claims . The creative director for this line – Patrick Robinson – spent a year and a half fine-tuning the line, from shopping around for fabrics, and teaching factories how to make those perfect hand-made finishes, to working with several body types to master that perfect fit.  He says

“For me, honestly, these are the best fitting jeans in the world.  We’ll go up against any brand of any jean, and these fit better,”

“We want[ed] jeans that, for women, make you have the best butt in the world ”.

Lets wait and see if the customers are going to echo his sentiments .

Some features of the new collection

Gap has given a sneek peak of its 1969 premier denim line which it is relaunching for the Fall 2009.

The most interesting part of this development is that the denims will be priced under $60 /- where most of the similar premium denim retails at above  $150 + range. Its designers (headed by Patrick Robinson) have spent over a year and half to develop this range at this price. Gap seems to have interacted with everyone in the supply chain – including managers from production floors of various mills around the world – to cut down the costs and get the product at this price. It seems that the launch is timed well

The line has  diverse styles and washes for both men and women – from skinny to straight and the new ‘Boyfriend’ jeans for women.

This announcement by Gap has Levi’s  frowning as they feel that the product – dark blue, stiff-looking, retro-style jeans -closely resembles their Hard Jeans product .

It seems to be a good move by Gap where the demand for premium denim is still there but the consumers are looking for cheaper options to their usual purchases of $100 + denims. Do we foresee a price war being triggered in the premium denim category with this launch by Gap?? Time will tell…

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