I was honored to be invited to tour Pico Creative Loft, the new Gap 1969 design headquarters in Los Angeles. 1969 is Gap’s premium denim lifestyle line. 1969 sources its denim from the exact same factories as Current/Elliott and other designer denim brands. Gap is powerful enough to leverage its massive spending power into more affordable price points than its competitors. I had no idea that 1969 existed before this collaboration, and now I’m really excited about the concept. The truth is that not everyone can afford to purchase $240 jeans, but most people can save up for a pair of $70 jeans. Gap is making premium denim democratic.

Everyone who I saw at the studio had incredibly cool style. Everyone from punks to surfers, artists and hipsters was represented on the design team. More people had multicolored hair than not – and we all know from my blog how much I love it when people dye their hair crazy colors! This experience definitely made me take a second look at the Gap, a brand I wore heavily in high school. I’m excited to wear my new 1969 bordeaux corduroys and green stretch jeans once fall weather hits!

To read more about my recent trip, click here to visit my post about Vogue’s Fall 2011 trend presentation.