It’s been a difficult time for the clothing brand Gap. Despite the ubiquity of those Gap-branded hooded sweatshirts in the 90s and 00s, the brand has faced considerable obstacles in recent years. Firstly, there was the cancellation of its partnership with Telfar in 2020. The collaboration was initially halted due to the pandemic before being cancelled for good.

Then came the San Francisco-born brand’s ill-fated collaboration with Kanye West – now formally known as Ye – which was announced shortly after its Telfar partnership was cancelled. It was hoped that a joint venture with Ye’s Yeezy would generate $1 billion (£872m) in annual sales for the American retailer, but earlier this year, the partnership was dissolved.

Away from the headlines, though, there’s been a slow but steady embrace of Gap’s logoed clothing, in particular among Gen Z. As the tide of nostalgia increasingly laps at the fashion shore, Instagram and TikTok have become hotbeds of ‘vintage’ clothes that, to many, are mere relics from our childhoods. The nostalgia effect has paved a new path for the American brand, and it’s proving wildly successful.

How Gap got its mojo back