Of course there’s a twist. The Dress Normal campaign is built around a group of extraordinary celebrities.
Seth Farbman, Gap global chief marketing officer explained, “Finding your own version of ‘dress normal’ is an art – my normal is different from your normal, and that’s the essence of the campaign.
“Gap has always been unapologetic about what we stand for – individualism and the liberation that comes from confidently being your most authentic self – and we wanted to create a campaign that brings these values to life in a real and thought-provoking way.”
Dress Normal will be Wieden + Kennedy’s first campaign for Gap. W+K New York was made lead global agency for the clothing brand in mid-March this year after a long period of deliberation. Gap had been working with fashion forward Minneapolis agency, Peterson Milla Hooks, on a project basis since its split with Ogilvy towards the end of 2012.
The campaign “began” with a series of teaser print ads to get media attention before they began appearing in magazines such as, Lucky, Elle and Fader.
“What we love about the print ads is how they bring unexpected moments and storytelling, which leave unanswered questions. Why is Michael leaning against that car? What is Zosia thinking about lying on the bed? What is Jena getting ready for? Is Elisabeth on her own or with someone else on the beach?” Farbman stated.
The campaign begins in earnest on September 2 across outdoor, mobile, direct, social, in store and digital, and will run in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy and Japan.
Like Ogilvy’s swansong campaign for Myer here, the story behind the pretty pictures will be told in cheeky captions such as, ‘dress like no one’s watching’ and ‘let your actions speak louder than your clothes.’
The print ads star Anjelica Huston, Elisabeth Moss, Michael K. Williams, Jena Malone and Zosia Mamet.
Gap is planning to amp up its Styld.by platform and will use a broader range of creative influencers, such as bloggers and artists, to curate different looks on the site and share them to their followers via the interative magazine.
It will also launch the Dress Normal Project as the campaign progresses. This mimics the idea of Live in Levi’s that was created by Monster Children’s in-house creative agency MC and AKQA London at the beginning of August.
In the 3 minute Live in Levi’s film, the fashion forward, artists and editors talk about why they wear Levi’s jeans and what the jeans mean to them. The film also encourages people to share how they Live in Levi’s, through social media.
[Live in Levi’s production credits are: Director: Chris Searl; DoP: Lachlan Milne; Editor: Peter Barton @ the Editors]
The Dress Normal Project will explore what dressing normal means through the lens of consumers across North America.
Gap has had some really interesting campaigns in the past. The series for its khakis used various forms of dance both to gain interest and show off the functional advantages of its range. It ran for more than five years.
