Dôen, the LA fashion and lifestyle brand loved by the likes of Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner, is getting its biggest spotlight yet with a new 51-person Gap collaboration launching Friday at more than 150 stores across 14 countries, and online at Gap.com.
The marriage of the two California-born companies brings the romantic spirit of Dôen to the American retailer's classic offering of floral sets, denim, khaki, eyelet dresses, loungewear and accessories, all priced between $19.95 and $158. The collection has shared styles and prints for matching moments in child, toddler and baby sizes.
More from WWD"The merging of our feminine nostalgia with their minimal '90s nostalgia was an exciting design proposal and fun to work on," says Katherine Kleveland, who co-founded Dôen with her sister Margaret in 2016 as a digital-first contemporary vintage brand. inspired women's clothing. blouses and dresses with ruffles sold through a collective of female tastemakers with social media reach.
Female empowerment and motherhood are brand touchstones for Dôen, which has since grown into a lifestyle offering with 10 collections per year (the most recent inclusion in Positano); children's clothing; loungewear; accessories and bedding. Headquartered in Van Nuys, the company has 115 employees, five retail stores and wholesale outlets through Net-a-porter and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Sisterhood runs the Gap x Dôen campaign with model Lily Aldridge and her sister, model and singer Ruby Aldridge. The photography and accompanying feel-good video, created by Dan Martensen, celebrate Dôen's family values with Gap's playful portraits and friendly marketing approach.
"At Gap, we are on a journey to increase cultural relevance and connect with talent that embodies originality. Our collaborations connect us with partners who can reinvent our icons and bring the brand to life in new and relevant ways," said Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of Gap, in a statement to WWD. "The collection features these best-loved essentials - the logo sweatshirt, denim and khaki trousers, the denim jacket - along with items that reflect classic Dôen style. They have been a great partner and I am excited to showcase another example of our creative and marketing transformation."
"Our goal is to reach a broad target group, both in terms of age and price," says Margaret Kleveland of the appeal of the Dôen x Gap collection, which is priced about 40 to 50 percent cheaper than their main line. Furthermore, the designers, who started their careers at LA brand Joie, have a real affinity with Gap.
"We are Gap Baby and Toddler customers and the women on our team are customers, and we've seen that our friends in the fashion world are Gap vintage collectors... so to combine our existing customers with a whole new audience... .was a good opportunity," she said.
The collection reinterprets many of Dôen's greatest hits while pushing the boundaries of Gap's classic designs with on-trend pleated wide-leg khaki pants; a white eyelet sundress with Dôen's signature smocked bodice; a floral print dress with slanted slip; a blouse with short sleeves and a ruffle collar and an oversized denim jacket with feminine draped sleeves, as examples.
There are also striped button-up shirts, inspired by their mother Faith Kleveland's Gap Originals styles from the 1980s; pointelle knit camis, sweaters and socks; Mary Jane shoes; logo sweatshirts; baseball caps and canvas tote bags.
"We have had successful white shorts and tops with eyes in our own collection. The dress with Gap combines some of our best-selling designs that we have done in print with that manufacturing and in my eyes it is going to be a stunner," said Margaret Kleveland.
To bring the collaboration to market, the two brands are taking a joint approach, including leveraging Dôen's gifting strategy for its community of celebrities and influencers. "Creating user-generated content has been a big part of what has made Dôen different in celebrating clothing on different bodies. So we're doing that in a much bigger way with Gap," says Katherine Kleveland, adding that digital marketing and retail installations will also be rolled out at the Gap 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 company and before Zac Posen was named creative director.
Dickson's recipe for Gap Inc. to pivot - giving each brand a stronger identity, leveraging music and pop culture to drive relevance and fashion, and working to champion original, trend-right products - appears to be gaining momentum, with Gap returning to the black during the fourth quarter.
The Klevelands left the door open to an ongoing partnership with the retailer: "They did say that when they made their last purchase, this would be their largest collaboration to date, structured in this way. The number of doors nearly doubled our initial projection," said Margaret Kleveland. "Throughout the work process we received so much good feedback and they were so enthusiastic about the presentation that...let's just say it evolved."
The Gap collection is a milestone for Dôen, less than 10 years old, and it is starting to look more broadly for expansion, including internationally. The brand had a pop-up at Merci boutique during Paris Fashion Week and recently launched a collaboration with French sandal brand K. Jacques.
It is also a personal victory.
"My middle child is very excited," Katherine Kleveland said of her 10-year-old Shep. "He asked if he could be the first to get the sweatshirt, which felt so sweet. Because there will be women in LA who will wear our dresses and come forward, but it has nothing to do with their little world. The kids' T-shirts are organic Gap T-shirts and their underwear are organic Gap briefs, so they're like, "Mommy is finally doing something to do with us."
Launch of Gallery: Inside the Gap x Dôen campaign with Lily and Ruby Aldridge
The best of WWD
