by Dôen, the LA fashion and lifestyle brand beloved by Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner among others, is getting its biggest attention yet with a new 51-piece Gap collaboration launching Friday in more than 150 stores in 14 countries, and online at gap.com.
The marriage of the two California-born companies brings Dôen’s romantic spirit to the American retailer’s classic offering of floral sets, denim, khaki, eyelet dresses, sofa furnishings and accessories, all priced from $19.95 to $158. The collection features styles and prints to match moments in baby, toddler and baby sizes.
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“Combining our feminine nostalgia with 90s minimalist nostalgia was an exciting and fun design proposition to work on,” said Katherine Kleveland, who founded Dôen with her sister Margaret in 2016 as a digital-first vintage-inspired contemporary brand. blouses and ruffled dresses sold through a collective of female tastemakers connected to social media.
Women’s empowerment and motherhood are brand touchstones for Dôen, which has since grown into a lifestyle offering with 10 collections per year (the latest shot in Positano); children’s clothing; sofa furniture; accessories, and bed linens. The business, headquartered in Van Nuys, has 115 employees, five stores, and wholesales through Net-a-porter and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Sisterhood does a Gap x Dôen campaign featuring model Lily Aldridge and her sister, model and singer Ruby Aldridge. Shot by Dan Martensen, the photography and accompanying video celebrate Dôen’s family values with fun portraiture and Gap’s friendly marketing approach.
“At Gap, we’re on a journey to drive cultural relevance and connect with talent that embodies originality. With our collaboration, we reach partners who can reinvent our icons and bring the brand to life in new and relevant ways,” said Mark Breitbard, president and chief executive officer of Gap, in a statement to WWD. “The collection features these most popular essentials – the logo jumper, denim and khaki trousers, the denim jacket – alongside items that reflect Dôen’s classic style. They are a great partner and I’m excited to show another example of our creative and marketing transformation.”
“Our goal is to reach a broad age demographic as well as a price demographic,” Margaret Kleveland said of the appeal of the Dôen x Gap collection, which is priced about 40 to 50 percent less than their main line. In addition, the designers, who began their careers with the LA Joie brand, have a real affinity for Gap.
“We are customers of Gap Baby and Toddler and the women on our team are customers, and our friends in the fashion world are vintage Gap collectors… good opportunity,” she said.
The collection reinterprets many of Dôen’s greatest hits as he pushes the envelope on classic Gap designs with on-trend pleated khaki pants; white eyelet sundress with Dôen’s signature smocked bodice; Floral-cut dress bias and slip slip; a short sleeve blouse with a ruffle collar, and an oversized denim jacket with feminine draped sleeves, as examples.
There are also striped button-down shirts inspired by her mom Faith Kleveland’s Gap Originals styles from the 1980s; pointelle knit camis, sweaters and stockings; mary jane shoes; logo sweatshirts; baseball caps, and canvas totes.
“In our own collection we’ve done shorts and white eyelet tops. The dress by Gap combines some of our best selling designs in print with that manufacturing and in my mind that will be a stunner,” said Margaret Kleveland.
To market the collaboration the two brands are taking a joint approach, including leveraging Dôen’s gifting strategy to its community of celebrities and influencers. “Creating user-generated content was a huge part of what’s different about Dôen as it celebrates clothing on different bodies. So we’re doing that in a much bigger way with Gap,” said Katherine Kleveland, adding that the Gap will be rolling out digital marketing and store installations at The Grove in LA and beyond.
The sisters began working on the collection about a year ago, before Richard Dickson was announced as CEO and president of the $16 billion San Francisco-based corporation, and before Zac Posen was appointed creative director.
Dickson’s prescription for Gap Inc. appears to be turning it around — giving each brand a stronger identity, leveraging music and pop culture to drive relevance and fashion, and working to promote original products on the right — building momentum, with Gap swinging back into the black during the fourth quarter.
The Klevelands left the door open for continued collaboration with the retailer: “They said when they made their final purchase that it was going to be the biggest collaboration to date structured in this way. The number of doors almost doubled our initial projection,” said Margaret Kleveland. “During the work process, we received so much good feedback and they were very happy with the presentation that … let’s say, it has evolved.”
The Gap collection is a milestone for Dôen, which is not yet 10 years old, and is starting to look wider for expansion, including internationally. The brand had a pop-up at the Merci store during Paris Fashion Week and recently launched a collaboration with French sandal brand K. Jacques.
Inside the Gap x Dôen campaign with Lily and Ruby Aldridge
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It’s a personal victory, too.
“My middle child, he’s really excited,” Katherine Kleveland said of her 10-year-old, Shep. “He asked if he could be the first to get the jersey, which felt so sweet. Because there will be women out in LA wearing our dresses that will come up, but that’s not about their little lives. The kids’ T-shirts are Gap organic T-shirts and their underwear is Gap organic pants, so they’re like, ‘Mommy is finally making something that belongs to us.'”
Launch Gallery: Inside the Gap x Dôen Campaign with Lily and Ruby Aldridge
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