by David Moin
Posted Thursday May 5, 2011
From WWD.COM
Patrick Robinson, executive vice president of Gap Global Design for Adult and Body, is out, the company said today.
“After spending the last three months in New York with the creative team, I’ve made the decision to make a change within our Gap Adult design team,” said Pam Wallack, head of the Gap Global Creative Center in New York.
A search for Robinson’s successor has begun. In the interim, Wallack will provide day-to-day management of the design teams, and has asked Jennifer Giangualano, senior vice president of kids and baby design, to provide leadership and direction on adult design.
Rosella Giuliani, who heads the brand’s design office in Los Angeles, will continue to oversee Gap’s 1969 denim product line, reporting directly to Wallack.
“Patrick has been a dedicated and passionate advocate for Gap brand and our customers over the last four years, and we’re grateful for his hard work, especially related to our 1969 denim,” said Glenn Murphy, chairman and chief executive officer of Gap Inc. “Our leaders of the new Gap Global Creative Center are taking the necessary steps to compete and win around the world.”
Robinson joined the Gap in 2007 to try to revive the look but had little success. He’s not only been the top design and creative force for Gap but also the most visible, and often served up for media interviews and fashion previews.
The California-born designer with a laid-back hip demeanor worked for Giorgio Armani, Anne Klein, Perry Ellis, and Paco Rabanne, was a graduate from the Parsons School of Design, and a Vogue rising star in 1996. But he couldn’t make his magic work at Gap. Products have been widely regarded as uninspired and often quickly marked down.
News of his departure was not totally surprising considering Gap’s problems in North America generating traffic and experiencing negative sales results. While the cash flow and the balance sheet have been strengthened, and international operations are showing promise, the performance in North America by Gap has been inconsistent.
