Gap Inc. Launches ‘Fashiontainment’ Strategy With JYT Boy Band

Gap Inc. has struck a multiyear partnership with boy band Just Your Type, marking the retailer’s first collaboration under its new “Fashiontainment” platform.

The Gap brand and JYT will co-develop a docuseries chronicling the boy band’s rise, a national mall tour by the group, a Gap capsule collection codesigned with JYT, and social content on platforms where Gap Inc. sees audiences discovering music and culture.

Just Your Type (JYT) is a five-member, high-energy, “dance forward” group helping to re-energize the boy band genre, which was particularly big in the late ’80s, through the ’90s and into the early 2000s with such groups as New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, NSync and Backstreet Boys.

JYT was developed by Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler and signed to Wexler Records/Republic Records about a year ago. According to information provided by Gap, JYT has emerged as one of music’s fastest-rising new acts, generating more than 450 million views over the past 90 days, and building an audience of more than 2 million followers across social platforms.

Fashiontainment is Gap Inc.’s new holistic strategy involving marketing, merchandising, social media, and building connections in music, sports, Hollywood and other forms of entertainment. By creating content, licensing and experiences, Gap Inc. expects to increase sales and loyalty to its own brands — Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta — while also elevating the talent the company partners with. The partnership with JYT involves only the Gap brand.

Last February, former Paramount executive Pam Kaufman joined Gap Inc. as executive vice president and chief entertainment officer, a new role to develop the Fashiontainment strategy. Kaufman’s responsibilities are geared to “build and scale Gap Inc.’s content and licensing platform across music, television, film, sports, gaming, consumer products, and cultural collaborations,” the company said at the time of her appointment. Kaufman has since established a Los Angeles-based office with a team reporting to her. She spends her time between Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, where Gap Inc. is based.

“Gap has always lived at the intersection of style, music and culture, and our Fashiontainment platform builds on that legacy by putting our brands at the center of the stories and cultural moments people care about,” Kaufman said in a statement Tuesday. “With JYT, we’re drawing on the full breadth of Gap, from creative storytelling and fashion to our stores and experiences, to give audiences multiple ways into the band’s world. JYT embodies the mix of music, dance, personality, fashion and fandom that makes this partnership so exciting — and so distinctly Gap. Together, we can create something much bigger than a campaign.”

Kaufman reports to Richard Dickson, president and chief executive officer of Gap Inc. since August 2023. Dickson himself has experience in the world of entertainment, having previously served as president and chief operating officer of Mattel, where he was instrumental in reviving the image of the Barbie doll via innovative marketing including collaborations and partnerships with other brands.

Since Dickson joined Gap Inc., the company, particularly Gap brand, has been seeing sales momentum attributed largely to energetic marketing that has resonated with consumers, among them Gap’s “Better in Denim” campaign featuring K-pop girls group Katseye, Old Navy’s first co-created collection and experience with Disney, and Harlem’s Fashion Row during the NBA All-Star Weekend. There have been recent collaborations with Parker Posey, Hailey Bieber and Troye Sivan as well, and Gap formed a partnership with the Netflix series “Stranger Things,” releasing fashion products related to themes from the show.

Industry analysts have been impressed with Gap Inc.’s marketing initiatives, though ultimately the success of a fashion retailer depends on the quality, value and appeal of its products.

Gap Inc. reported 10 consecutive quarters of gains up until the second quarter of this year, which ended Aug. 1 and saw sales decline 2 percent, impacted primarily by fashion misses at Old Navy. In contrast, the Gap brand continued its winning ways of the past two years by posting a 9 percent sales gain, and Banana Republic posted a 1 percent sales gain, while Athleta experienced a 12 percent drop.

The JYT members are Recker Eans, Toby Green, Caden Adamonis, Bryan Chan and Tyler George. They’re all teenagers. Gap, in its statement, indicated that the five performers offer a blend of individual talents in dance, vocals, songwriting, acting, musicianship and digital storytelling.

“It’s rare to find a partner who shares our dedication to discovering and nurturing talent,” Wexler said in a statement. “We’ve found that Gap Inc. understands how music, fashion, storytelling and live experiences build on one another, giving fans more ways to connect with JYT. Through its iconic Gap brand, which has helped shape culture for generations, we see an opportunity to bring JYT to audiences in new ways.”

“Freddy Wexler’s vision of delivering the world’s next global sensation, along with the historic alliance with Gap, makes for an extraordinary opportunity to deliver one of this year’s biggest breakouts,” Monte Lipman, executive chairman of Republic, said in his statement.

The Gap x JYT partnership will unfold in several ways, including:

• A co-produced multi-episode docuseries following JYT behind the scenes. They’ll be seen at their live performances and in their creative sessions, and the series intends to capture their personalities and aspects of their personal relationships.
• JYT’s national mall tour will start in October, combining live performances with “immersive” fan moments and in-store activations at select Gap locations.
• A codesigned Gap x JYT collection that “channels each member’s distinct personal style into signature pieces fans can make their own,” Gap indicated. Gap will dress JYT for select performances throughout the partnership. The collection drops later this fall in stores and on gap.com.
• Gap and JYT will create content and activations “across the platforms and places where audiences discover music, fashion and emerging talent,” Gap indicated.

Gap officials were not immediately available to discuss more details on the JYT partnership, such as locations for the JYT tour and other fan experiences, the docuseries, or the Gap x JYT collection.

“Fashion is entertainment, and today’s customers aren’t just buying apparel, they’re buying into brands that tell compelling stories and drive cultural conversations,” Dickson said in his statement Tuesday. “As we reinvigorate Gap Inc.’s house of iconic American brands to drive relevance and revenue, we recognize entertainment is a critical link to the consumer — one we can lean on to create fandoms, inspire movements, and fuel sustained growth. Through ‘Fashiontainment,’ we are unlocking that potential to take our brands to the next level, and Pam’s discipline, deep expertise, and proven track record in entertainment and licensing make her the perfect fit to help us bring it to life.”

“Gap Inc.’s brands have shaped culture for generations, creating a legacy that is incredibly powerful,” Kaufman said in a statement. “What excites me most is the opportunity to build on that foundation, thoughtfully expanding how these brands connect with people through partnerships and experiences over time.”

According to Gap, Kaufman has extensive experience building and scaling family-centric, culturally relevant brands across entertainment, fashion and consumer products. “She has a track record of extending iconic IP into fashion-forward expressions through design-led partnerships, licensing, retail and experiences,” Gap indicated.

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