By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Macy’s and Gap are launching an exclusive new collection of sleepwear, underwear and intimates in the companies’ first collaboration.
“We are thrilled to launch this collection of Gap sleepwear and intimates exclusively at Macy’s and to extend our customer reach,” said Gap president, Adrienne Gernand. “This launch is an opportunity to amplify the Gap brand and deliver must-have essentials in comfortable, breathable fabrics to men and women across the US.”
Amplifying the brand is key to this collaboration and to Gap’s current strategy, as the legacy retailer has struggled in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, competition from online retailers, and decreased demand due to inflation.
By featuring certain Gap products at Macy’s, Gap would hope that it encourages Macy’s shoppers to visit Gap stores and gap.com as well.
The licensed collection includes underwear, bras, boxers, pajama sets, undershirts and loungewear in a wide range of designs and colors.
Through a partnership facilitated by IMG, Centric Brands was responsible for designing, producing and distributing the licensed Gap collection at Macy’s locations across the U.S. IMG also brokered a similar, earlier agreement with Walmart.
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The deal is also important for Macy’s, which faces similar challenges as a brick and mortar retailer.
The company last week reported a second-quarter sales decline of 8%, and said the active casual and sleepwear categories were hardest hit, while other categories held their own.
A deal with Gap brings a respected and widely known brand to help boost sagging sleepwear sales.
“Macy’s is excited to partner with such an iconic brand like Gap,” said Macy’s VP, Rachel Leinwand. “This collection is a great addition to our men’s and women’s basics assortments that will provide classic but modern styling with quality fabrics and fit—giving our customers more options to own their style.”
In an interview with the fashion publication WWD, a spokeswoman said further collaborations may follow. “As with other similar partnerships, we will monitor customer response with the goal of identifying potential opportunities to grow the business together,” she said. “We are always exploring new brands and categories, either through marketplace, strategic partnerships or owned brands.”
Ranging in size from XS-XL, the exclusive Gap collection is available for purchase on Macy’s official website, mobile app and select stores nationwide.