AKQA Builds Social Catalog for Gap's Fashions

Digital agency AKQA has teamed up with clothing retailer Gap to launch Styld.by, a digital experience it says reinvents the traditional catalog.

Styld.by has social elements built in to enable users to easily share looks that include Gap clothes. It’ s a collaboration between Gap and six fashion and lifestyle blogs that gives the bloggers the opportunity to take pieces from Gap’ s spring 2012 collection and style them however they choose.

The theme of Gap’ s spring 2012 collection is “Be Bright,” which the apparel company says reflects a strong, optimistic point of view with its vibrant colors.

The partner blogs include fashion, shopping and style blog FabSugar; collective fashion blog Lookbook.nu; music media company MOG; fashion, beauty, and shopping site Refinery29; style magazine Rue Mag; and celebrity style and fashion trend blog WhoWhatWear.

Images appear on Styld.by with a brief description of the Gap item in question and it was incorporated into a look. Every image can be bookmarked, collected, and shared on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, and Pinterest.

According to AKQA, the project lets blogging fashion experts to showcase their individual tastes. The Styld.by images and posts serve as a “front cover” to the digital catalog, launching the experience within the partner sites.

“By asking our partners to curate our favorite pieces in a way that’ s relevant to them, we’ re giving consumers more than just our point of view,” said Seth Farbman, Gap’ s global chief marketing officer, in a statement.

Simon Jefferson, Director of Client Services at AKQA, added, “Browsing and shopping is about more than one destination; it’ s about creating a social experience in the context of where shoppers find inspiration…[This] catalog goes beyond a single destination to providing a content-filled digital platform that fosters ongoing inspiration and conversation.”

The images also include prices of the Gap items and links to the Gap site where items can be purchased.

Styld.by launched on February 9. It was AKQA’ s first work since it was named global digital agency of record by Gap earlier this year.

Correction: Simon Jefferson’s quote above was previously misattributed to Shira Bogart, Group Creative Director at AKQA.