Gap’s new playbook: Less discounting, more Hailey Bieber

As Gap Inc.

CEO Richard Dickson gives us a tour of the Gap’s remodeled store in New York’s Flatiron District, he pauses at a gallery of 16 framed sepia-toned pictures hanging above a staircase: work by legendary photographers Annie Leibovitz and Bruce Weber, capturing celebrities from musicians Debbie Harry to Willie Nelson to actress Lauren Hutton for long-ago ad campaigns.

He found the photos—and hundreds more—in the company’s archives soon after taking the helm of the brand’s parent company in 2023, Dickson said.

They recalled a time when the Gap was firmly at the center of pop culture, and he thought they should be on display in the flagship store—a few yards away from gigantic posters of contemporary “Gap girl,” the influencer and cosmetics entrepreneur Hailey Bieber, who has launched a new jeans line with the Gap.

Since the very beginning of his tenure, Dickson has put restoring the “cultural relevance” of the Gap, along with sister brands Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta, at the very top of his agenda, alongside the more prosaic priorities for a clothing brand: quality, well-appointed stores and supply chain prowess .

One of his early moves as CEO was to hire designer Zac Posen to be creative director of Gap Inc. and chief creative officer of Old Navy.

“We need to celebrate our history and now we add new people,” Dickson tells Fortune in an episode of Behind the Business .

“When you look at Hailey Bieber, with the legendary talent we brought to the Gap over the years—it shows the continuity.” There is more buzz these days around the Gap than there has been in years.

Its “Better in Denim” ad campaign last year included a viral Busby Berkeley-style dance number , created with global girl group Katseye, that has been seen 80 million times.

A limited-edition $100 hoodie designed with the group members earlier this year also sold briskly.

Other recent celebrity collaborators have included the Gen Z singer-songwriter Malcolm Todd and actress Inde Navarrette, as well as the designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.

Meanwhile the Gap’s sister brand, Old Navy, is working with the rapper Cardi B on a jeans line.

Not just “stuff” At the recently remodeled Flatiron Gap store, there are flicks at the brand’s long history, including photos of its first store in 1969 in San Francisco.

A vinyl records section evokes the chain’s start as a record store that sold jeans (Levi’s initially, before its own label existed.).