Gap Hires Prominent Fashion Designer

SAN FRANCISCO - Slumping retailer Gap Inc. on Wednesday announced the hiring of prominent fashion designer Patrick Robinson, hoping he can help stock its shelves with more clothes that consumers want to buy.

Robinson, 40, will oversee the design of men's and women's clothing as well as accessories in North America for the Gap chain, which has been plagued by a succession of poor decisions in recent years.

The fashion missteps have contributed to nearly three years of declining sales at the San Francisco-based company that also owns the Banana Republic and Old Navy chains.

"Patrick brings broad experience, from high-end fashion to mass market retail, demonstrating his versatility to interpret and create fresh, clean designs," said Marka Hansen, who is leading the efforts to turn around the Gap stores. Hansen had helped lift Banana Republic sales before being named president of the Gap brand earlier this year.

Robinson had been artistic director for Paco Rabanne in Paris, where he designed a limited edition of clothing collection for Target Corp., whose penchant for affordable fashion has hurt Gap. Before joining Paco Rabanne, Robinson held top design jobs at Perry Ellis and Anne Klein. He first made a name for himself by working for Giorgio Armani's Le Collezioni White Label during the first half of the 1990s.

As part of its turnaround efforts, Gap has been mulling significant layoffs. More details about the job cuts could emerge Thursday when the company is scheduled to release its first-quarter results. Management has already acknowledged that Gap's same-store sales, a key measure of a retailer's health, fell for the 11th consecutive quarter.