When Rebekka Bay, Gap’s former creative director, was hired by the retailer in 2012, it was pegged as a turning point for the retailer. Bay had tons of fangirls thanks to her stint as creative director at Cos, H&M’s minimalist cool-girl brand. But the Danish designer’s time at Gap came to an end in January, when the company eliminated the creative director title entirely (Bay also reportedly clashed with the brand’s executive and merchandising teams).
Now, according to Business Of Fashion, Bay is making her next move, and it's a good one: she'll join Everlane as head of product design on August 4. The online-only, direct-to-consumer, San Francisco-based brand keeps prices low(er) thanks to its lack of brick-and-mortar stores and retailer markups, and introduces designs piece by piece, as opposed to season by season.
“When Rebekka and I first met, there was an instant connection...I think she’s going to bring a significant amount of strategy and foresight and planning, thinking about Everlane not only as a fashion brand, but as a lifestyle brand,” Michael Preysman, Everlane’s founder and CEO, told Business Of Fashion.
Everlane’s unique business model — and, specifically, the notion of designing each piece to stand, and sell, on its own — presents a shift for Bay. The scale is different, too: Cos had roughly 90 stores when Bay was at the helm and there are over 3,000 Gap outposts globally. Design-wise, Everlane’s obsession with minimalism and perfected basics should be quite familiar, thanks to her time at Cos. Bay’s designs are slated to hit Everlane's site throughout the rest of 2015 — we’ll certainly be keeping an eye out.
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