As Gap’s latest campaign exhorts the world to “dress normal” — which, despite the word choice, is not intended to celebrate conformity, but rather, individual style — the brand is traveling to various cities to demonstrate how different “normal” can be.
And in Chicago, it turns out, normal is … well, pretty darn normal.
After stops in Los Angeles and Seattle, Gap is bringing its temporary photo exhibit and shop this weekend to 3350 N. Broadway, where photos taken by local photographers of 50 fellow Chicagoans highlight what normal fashion means in this city. The five-stop campaign next heads to Atlanta and Brooklyn, N.Y.
On the whole, said Trish Summerville, a costume designer behind the very not-normal fashions in “The Hunger Games” movies and the stylist who dressed the models for Gap’s traveling campaign, Chicagoans stick to more subdued colors and classic silhouettes than their West Coast peers.
“Maybe overall, it’s a bit more of a conservative city,” Summerville said.
Unlike their counterparts in Seattle or LA, Chicagoans tended to opt for solid colors over bold patterns, darker tones over bright hues, dark blue denim over black and gray, and straight or slim-fit jeans over skinnies, Summerville said.
Not surprisingly, heavier weighting in shirts and outerwear got more focus in Chicago, she said.
Gap pulled together the exhibit by tapping six local “content creators” — i.e., photographers — and having each of them choose locals who represent a broad cross section of what it means to “dress normal” to model for the campaign. Summerville worked with the photographers to dress and style the models in mostly Gap items for the photo shoots, meant to be representative of each of the locations. Fashion photographer Tommy Ton curated the photos for the pop-up.
The “dress normal” campaign, part of Gap’s new black denim collection for fall, can sound like a call to dressing the same. But Gap said its intent is the opposite.
“We were inspired by the bold and honest spirit of the millennial generation; their authenticity is what makes them stand apart in today’s complex world,” Stephen Sunnucks, Gap global president, said in a statement. “Gap has always stood for individuality and being your most authentic self. By challenging the idea of what it means to dress normal, we hope to inspire confidence in everyone’s own personal style.”
Retail consultant Neil Stern, a senior partner at McMillanDoolittle in Chicago, said the campaign speaks to Gap’s history — “basics, done well, with a twist.”
“They have lost when they stepped too far into ‘fashion’ and they lose when they are too bland,” Stern said.
Finding the right balance is difficult, Stern said, “but enabling customers to bring their own individuality to play is a nice spin on the core idea.”
The Gap pop-up on Broadway will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
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