It’s not surprising that many fashion retailers are exploring expanding into the home decor space. After all, if you love a brand’s clothing and accessories, it’s only natural to want to extend that aesthetic into your living space. Many fashion brands have launched successful home collections, including Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Tommy Bahama, and Versace, to name a few. My favorite was the sadly now mostly defunct Calvin Klein Home (R.I.P). H&M, Zara, Urban Outfitters, and Anthropologie have launched very successful home collections on the more mass retail level.
Recently, three fashion retailers have quietly launched home collections: Gap, J.Crew, and Banana Republic. Let’s take a closer look.
Gap Home was released in June 2020, but weirdly- it’s only available through Walmart’s website. If Gap were to launch a clothing collection or collaboration with Walmart and also include Home goods, that would make more sense to me. Levis recently did a similar thing with Target, and I thought that collection looked fantastic and “on-brand.” However, Gap Home appears to be a totally separate thing. The collection includes bedding and bath towels, and they just launched a kids and pets collection too. None of it is branded with the Gap logo (not that you would necessarily want logo-branded home decor), but it all just feels a bit generic. If you didn’t know otherwise, the pieces could easily be any brand available at practically any store, so why even call it “Gap”? It just seems so strange to me that there’s no direct tie-in with the clothing, which I would assume is the appeal that they would hope the consumer would associate it with. Anyway, Check out the collection here.
Next up is J.Crew. J.Crew recently went through a significant brand refresh last year. I especially have been excited about the Men’s collections under the new direction of Brendon Babenzien. It’s totally giving me a return to classic late 80’s/90’s vibes, and I’m here for it. Unfortunately, the new Home collection doesn’t appear to have received the same attention.
The highlight so far is a collaboration with Liberty London fabrics, but while the famous Liberty floral prints work on clothing, I don’t think it’s translating well into the linens they’ve been applied to. There are also some glassware pieces, but they feel a bit random. Check out the collection here.
Last but not least, we have Banana Republic Home. Banana Republic actually had a home collection back in the late ’90s/early 2000s. It reminded me a lot of the Calvin Klein home collection at the time. Sadly the home collection didn’t last too long, and they discontinued it. Fast forward to now. Banana Republic has also had a major brand refresh over the past year. They seem to have gone back to embracing the luxury travel aesthetic, which gives Ralph Lauren-lite vibes, and I’m not mad at that.
Compared to the other two I’ve mentioned in this post, I think it’s totally working, and the home collection feels the most aligned with the brand’s direction. There are a lot of warm neutrals and ethnic-inspired touches. However, I feel like it still doesn’t have a distinct voice and could be mistaken for Restoration Hardware or other brands. Check out the collection here.
Overall, it’s nice to see these brands branch out into the home decor space, but I wish they could bring something more unique. What do you think? Would you get anything from these collections?