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In October 2023, 24-year-old Julia Huynh (1 million followers on TikTok, 248,000 on Instagram) posted a TikTok announcing a quest for a “hoodie that hoodies.”
According to Huynh, that’s best described as the hoodie that you reach for when “you want to be comfortable yet stylish at the same time.” It’s the hoodie you “take to the airport, to the grocery store or on a late-night ice cream run. It’s your staple go-to hoodie.”
What qualifies a hoodie as such is simple, Huynh said. “It’s all about the fit and the feel,” she said. “For the fit, you want a wide, boxy fit paired with a nice drop shoulder and really wide sleeves. And the hood needs to be big enough to fit your head without needing to squeeze. For the feel, it needs to be soft and have a really nice, heavy weight to it.”
For the past year, Huynh has reviewed many hoodies for her community to decide whether or not they, in fact, “hoodie” (verb). But, for the past few months, she’s been keeping a secret from her followers. In the spring, she received a DM from the Gap, inviting her to come into its NYC HQ to co-create the perfect “hoodie that hoodies.” Though the brand has released a series of buzzy collaborations this year — see: Doen, Madhappy, Cult Gaia — this would mark its first-ever collection co-created products with an influencer.
Erika Everett, Gap’s head of marketing, said she was made aware of Huynh’s series by the brand’s head of women’s merchandising, who DMed one of the posts to her. Initially, the team considered doing what so many other brands did for Huynh: simply sending over hoodies to review. But they decided to hold back — after all, Everett admitted, they knew their hoodies may not yet hoodie. “Our hoodie silhouette is a pretty classic silhouette, and [Julia] has a very specific take on what the perfect hoodie is,” Everett said. “So we decided to invite her in.”
Soon, Huynh was on a flight from her home of San Jose to New York. “[Suddenly I was in a] high-rise corporate corporate office in New York City, with these creative professionals all listening to me. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy,'” Huynh said. She recalled schooling the Gap designers on the ideal hood size and sleeve drape and what constitutes a potato-sack waistband. “It’s like a little pouch, which makes it look a little more cozy,” Huynh said, noting that she also chose the colors of the hoodie style, which will retail for $98. It will come in navy, pink, green and yellow. The hoodie was rendered in a new fabric for Gap — its heaviest yet. According to the brand’s description of the fabric, the new heavyweight French Terry “ensures breathability, while its weight provides much-needed warmth in colder temperatures.” The resulting hoodie went on sale on Friday.
Engaging with creators is “core to any winning marketing strategy,” Everett said, calling this collaboration unique due to its organic nature. Gap’s hoodies, which turn 30 next year, have increased in popularity over the last couple of years. In 2021, its logo hoodie, particularly in brown, became a Gen-Z fixation.
“Fleece is a very important category for us. … It’s always nice to take one of those classic icons that the brand is known for and then put a twist on it. And I think that’s the beauty and the magic of this collaboration,” Everett said.
This first influencer partnership hints at Gap’s strategy for future partnerships. “Part of our reinvigoration efforts, and a big part of our marketing strategy, has been to shift to more of a social-first place — to be more socially led through everything we do,” Everett said.
The sweatshirt will be available online and around 20 stores — Huynh plans to visit one and create content of herself doing so.
While large, multi-SKU collabs — like Gap’s with Doen, which launched in May — are clear for both sales and relevancy, a single-piece partnership won’t likely prove a big sales driver — and that’s not the goal, Evertt said. “We’re looking to drive credibility and relevance,” she said. “[Success will be based on] engagement and reach: views, shares, likes, the content that’s happening within the comments and what the community is saying.”
Huynh was able to gift her hoodie to 50 of her friends, family and fellow influencers, and both she and Gap will be promoting the product across social media platforms. In the comments of a teaser post that went live on Thursday, fans of her year-long hoodie quest were expressed their support: “Girlll i knew it you were going to design a hoodie someday😭,” one comment read. Another stated, “JULIA IVE BEEN HERE SINCE DAY ONE YOU BEST BELIEVE IM BUYING ONE.”
Launch of the week: Rare Beauty debuts its annual Impact Fund launch
Every year, Rare Beauty launches a new product — this year, products — to raise money for its Impact Fund. Yesterday, it debuted this year’s iteration: the $25 Stay Vulnerable Mini Glossy Lip Balm Duo, which is available on the brand’s e-commerce site and TikTok Shop. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to the Impact Fund. “This year’s launch helps raise funds that directly benefit youth mental health organizations, helping to ensure that young people have the support they need to thrive,” said Elyse Cohen, evp of social impact and inclusion at Rare Beauty and president of the Rare Impact Fund.
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