Why Did Gap’s Creative Director Leave?

The man who headed up Gap’s marketing and advertising campaigns has left the company, according to WWD (subscription required).

After a 14-year run at Gap, Dennis Leggett decided that enough was enough, and has decided to move on. Sources told WWD that Leggett was frustrated with Gap’s poor performance over the last decade.

It seems that Leggett’s position might not be filled. Instead, Laird+Partners–the creative consulting firm that does most of Gap’s campaigns–will likely be playing a bigger role in things.

Of course, the fashion world is wondering: What does this mean for Patrick Robinson?

The truth is, Robinson has a ton of other challenges to face. While he surely collaborates with marketing and advertising on creative, the bigger issue is the clothes he’s designing aren’t selling as well as Gap–and its investors–would like them to be.

Whatever you think of Robinson, this really isn’t only his fault. What consumers often don’t realize is that design teams within big companies create a large collection six times a year–plenty of those pieces get “dropped.” That means that the buyers within the company say that they won’t be able to sell these items. Often, the dropped pieces are the most fashion forward.

If you work at a company like J.Crew, your boss–Mickey Drexler–will probably make sure the good stuff makes it. But Gap doesn’t have Mickey Drexler as a CEO. (Well, they used to, but that’s another story for another time). They have a former drug store CEO who, while great at cutting costs, surely doesn’t have a clue about what today’s consumer wants or doesn’t want, at least from an aesthetic standpoint.

Here’s the takeaway, though: Gap isn’t going anywhere. It might get smaller, but it’s never departing altogether. And we sincerely hope the latter is true for Robinson.