Fashion Influentials #77: Donald and Doris Fisher
Left: Donald and Doris Fisher. Right: a 2007 Gap ad featuring Amy Poehler and Will Arnett.DONALD AND DORIS FISHER
Born:
Donald: 1928
Doris: 1931
Brands:
Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy
Celebrities featured in Gap ads:
John Krasinski, Josh Duhamel, John Mayer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Chace Crawford, James Marsden, Lucy Liu, Jeremy Piven, Selma Blair...
Beginnings.
In 1969, Donald and Doris Fisher began selling jeans and records at a small store on Ocean Avenue in their hometown of San Francisco. They named the store after the growing generational gap - Gap. It appealed to younger customers, who flocked to the store to stock up on basics like white cotton shirts.
Career Highs.
Gap was so popular that, in 1970, the Fishers opened another store in San Jose. They kept adding stores to their chain, and in 1974, began to sell private label merchandise: Gap Jeans were born. The Gap, Inc, later purchased Banana Republic, a safari-themed retailer, and launched the value chain Old Navy in 1994. With varied stores offering simple, basic clothing at different price points, The Gap, Inc. controls a significant portion of the American clothing market. Donald Fisher is now worth an estimated $3.3 billion.
I created Gap with a simple idea: to make it easier to find a pair of jeans. We remain committed to that basic principle.
- Don Fisher
The stars of the CW's Gossip Girl star in a current GAP ad campaign.Career Lows.
The last decade hasn't been easy on the company the Fishers founded. In 2003, sweatshop workers in Saipan filed a class action lawsuit against the corporation, alleging unsafe working conditions, unpaid overtime, and forced abortion policies. The Gap settled, never admiting liability. In 2007, the BBC showed footage of children working in an Indian Gap factory. Gap denied awareness of child labor. The company's profits have been sinking for the last several years.
Legacy.
Donald and Doris Fisher are at least partially responsible for the birth of The Mall Store, a genuine American institution. With nearly two thousand Gap stores in the United States alone, they have homogenized American fashion, for better or for worse, offering standard basics in malls from Anchorage to Miami Beach. They brought us the Khaki revolution and made younger audiences aware of Carrie Donovan (she appeared in Old Navy's early advertisement campaigns). Love them or hate them, the Fishers have dominated American fashion since 1969.
The GAP Fall 2008 Fashion Show.Get the Look.
Please. I have yet to meet anyone who does not or has not owned anything from The Gap. Gap clothes are very, very easy to find. Check out the latest looks in their new ads featuring stars like Jennifer Hudson and Jason Bateman.
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