Publicity wise, Gap hasn't gone bonkers with Katie Grand's curated collection of (Product) RED clothing and accessories for World AIDS Day with the full range only unveiled in the latest issue of Pop magazine. I in turn haven't really gone bonkers for it either. Yes, whilst it is a worthy cause with 50% of the profits will go towards the Global Fund to fight AIDs in Africa, the products are discreet and very apt for Gap, though not worth queuing up for or anything. These include some notably designed t-shirts; a 'Mouse' graphic Giles tee, a Proenza Schouler grey and black ink blot tee, some House of Holland slogan tees (quelle surprise... though the slogans are a touch more meaningful...'Be Incredible, Not Forgettable', 'Be Ado(red), Not Flawed'). Katie Hillier has done an inside out navy sweatshirt bag with red ribbon deailing and Pierre Hardy has done a red satin classic flat shoe (his capsule collection was quite the disappointment, felt more so when I visited his Palais Royal store in Paris and pondered the VAST difference between his own label shoes and what he did for Gap....).
However, the item that will get ppl wagging, or probably even WAGS wagging is the re-worked Mulberry Roxanne bag that will come in red or grey jersey versions and will be priced at a modest sum of £85. There's a reason why 'IT' bags don't feature that heavily on Style Bubble and reason being I have an almost stone cold lack of affection towards bags. I treat em' mean and don't keep them clean. If they're functional, I'll use them. Passing admiration for beautiful bags is one thing but I've never been one to swoon excessively over them. I have a rather non-plussed 'shrug shrug' attitude towards designer bags so whilst the words 'Mulberry Roxanne' may have some people going ker-azy over it, I'm struggling to remember what the bag looks like exactly.
The one thing that I can say, without having too much prior knowledge of its leather predecessor, is that this Gap reworked version is far more appealing to me. It doesn't look like it will weigh a ton. It's not precious-looking and looks like you can bang it about a bit more and probably put it through the washing machine. I have an affinity with grey jersey in a way that everytime I see it be it in the form of t-shirt/dress/skirt, I do end up stroking it and invariably buying it and so seeing as I haven't yet come across a perfect grey jersey bag, I may have to put down my anti-IT bag shield and go forth.
The final plus is, these Katie Grand-curated Gap (Product) RED items will hits stores this Saturday (1st December) at the London and Paris flagship stores as well as Colette in Paris and Dover Street Market in London (sadly, this is restricted to London/Paris only...). As it happens, I will be in Paris in the wee hours of the 1st so I shall toodle off to Colette to hopefully snap up what is in my eyes a functional grey jersey bag with some design interest as opposed to exclaiming 'Oh-my-god-it's-a-cheap-Mulberry-must-get-there-b4-the-other-bitches-do!'.
**EDIT** - I managed to find an image of the grey jersey version which has sealed it for me... off to Colette I go...
