Now Gap’s gone super-glam: Thanks to a collaboration with a New York label loved by fashionistas

By Farrah Storr For The Daily Mail

Published: 17:22 EDT, 20 August 2023 | Updated: 17:31 EDT, 20 August 2023

When in 2021 High Street favourite Gap announced it would be shutting its shops across the UK, and shifting its velvet-soft chinos, perfect white shirts and flattering boyfriend-cut jeans online, it rather fell off the fashion radar.

But this week the American brand is most decidedly back centre-stage, thanks to one of the most exciting fashion collaborations of the season.

Joining forces with New York-based label LoveShackFancy, Gap has created a 55-piece collection that has elements of the brand we all know and love — sorbet colours, flattering, high-waisted jeans, flirty dresses — as well as all the whimsical and romantic touches LoveShackFancy is known for.

LoveShackFancy’s price range has always been around the £300-£400 mark for a midi dress and significantly more for the fantastical maxi dresses they are famous for, which is what makes the Gap collaboration such exceptional value.

Striped shirt, £50, gap.co.uk; jeans, £69.95, zalando. co.uk

The collection starts at £20 for a floral baseball cap and goes up to £135 for a trenchcoat that will take you right through summer and into autumn.

There are soft, floral dresses for summer evening drinks; a delicate sherbet-pink blouse that pairs beautifully with a pair of crisp, white jeans, as well as cropped denim jackets (£75) and tiered dresses (£99) that can be worn to almost any off-duty occasion.

It’s also firmly on-trend, mixing soft hyper-femininity with cool and classic silhouettes.

If you’re after a stand-out wedding guest dress, then the floral tiered maxidress (£99) is perfect, especially when toughened up by mixing it with a pair of mannish loafers. The floral printed shirt (£50) would work just as well for the office as it would for the weekend.

Fashion collaborations are ten a penny nowadays and range from the genius, such as Birkenstock and Manolo Blahnik, to the bizarre — I give you Ben & Jerry’s and Nike. But sometimes they hit the sweet spot, marrying the best of both labels at a price point that feels accessible.

Gap and LoveShackFancy is one such partnership, which means I’ll race you to the (virtual) checkout.