When Donald Fisher, the retailer’s creator, couldn’t locate the proper size blue jeans in a department store, he came up with the idea for The Gap. By that time, blue jeans had grown so famous that he imagined a retail store dedicated to them. The Gap is a play on the phrase “generation gap,” which was popular in the 1960s.
Blue jeans were mostly used for labour until the later half of the 1960s. They were not a common sight on the street. They were first worn by the young counterculture of the late 1960s as a public statement against conformity. Blue jeans rapidly became the ultra-hip garment to own as the trend seized hold. Unfortunately, supply did not meet demand. Fisher and his wife decided to open a blue jeans store to fill the void left by the increasing demand for jeans. There was no youth-oriented market to meet the apparel needs of the 14 to 25 year old demographic, which had distinct tastes in clothing. The Fishers formed The Gap in 1969. The Gap’s signature brand of jeans is still called 1969 for this reason, and jeans are still the company’s signature product.