As part of its annual Best New Menswear Designers in America project, GQ Magazine has tapped six rising star labels to represent the top new talent in men's design: Johan Lindeberg's BLK DNM, Ian Velardi, Saturdays NYC, Mark McNairy New Amsterdam, Ovadia & Sons, and Yodd Snyder.
Now, while it's always nice to see upstart talents recognized by a well-established magazine, it's even better when there's an actionable twist, which in this case, there is: All of the designers will get the chance to collaborate with the Gap on a limited-edition collection.
This isn't the first time the Gap has participated in a designer collaboration: From 2007-2010, the retailer was a sponsor of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and thusly featured special collaborations with the nominees. J.Crew took over that position for 2011, and now hosts pieces created by Fashion Fund winners and runners-up like Billy Reid and Prabal Gurung. Perhaps Gap is looking to get back in the game with this GQ partnership? Regardless, we'll be excited to see some snappy men's gear from these talented folks lining the racks of the Gap sometime soon.
