With five brands in the Gap Inc. portfolio, the opportunities are endless. Being a designer at Old Navy versus being a designer at Intermix can mean something completely different, which means our employees have an endless runway for their career growth.
So we scoured our headquarters offices to find some of the most unique jobs at our brands; jobs you probably wouldn’t have known existed here. Meet six employees who hold truly unique roles at Gap Inc.
Jessica Poole, Allocation Manager at Intermix
Jessica manages the allocation team at Intermix (the allocation team is responsible for forecasting and stocking each store with the perfect amount and type of product). Everything they do is one big formula, coordinating with buyers and inventory management, factoring in seasonal trends, and accounting for each of the store locations and who shops them. One thing is clear though: Jessica is totally customer obsessed. “Understanding who the customer is, what she likes to do in her free time, where and when she vacations, what her hobbies are, and what events she’s going to is crucial to my job.” For example, in the Beverly Hills store, Jessica sends an influx of gowns during awards season. There’s a lot more math happening in fashion than you may realize, and Jessica’s job is no exception. But at the end of the day, everything she does helps Intermix be exactly what it needs to be for each of its customers no matter where they are.
Olivia Mueller, Archivist for the Gap Inc. Heritage and Design Archives
Olivia is part historian, part art curator, part researcher. Olivia curates the products (not just clothing!) in the Gap Inc. Archives at our New York City Headquarters. The Archives closet holds some of the best and most iconic clothes, accessories, and memorabilia from past collections going all the way back to 1969, the year Doris and Don Fisher opened their first Gap store. “It’s great to work for a company that has such rich history. We draw from our past, but we’re always thinking of ways to improve, to do something new.” Olivia is constantly adding to the Archives, sourcing product from all over the globe. And one of the most fascinating parts of her job, is the way in which she works with our brands’ designers to develop new product. “The things I buy for the collection are usually related to what design is working on for upcoming seasons.” The Archives are a place for designers to come and be inspired, learn from the past, and iterate for the future. The Archive Collection Gap released last year came out of a conversation that started with the Archives and the Design teams. The connections between past and present are what inspire Olivia most in her job. “It makes me feel like I played a small part in touching our history to help create something new.”
Interested in learning more about the influence of archivists on the fashion industry? Check out Olivia's featured story on Fashionista here.
Jennifer Chen, Senior Textile Designer at Old Navy
The person behind Old Navy’s most beloved prints is first and foremost an artist – an illustrator to be exact. Jennifer works on the Women’s Prints Team that’s responsible for creating the print and pattern stories for each season. For as digital as the world is now, especially the world of design, Jennifer still spends a good portion of her 9-5 drawing and sketching, and pulling inspiration from the real world. One of her favorite things about her job is “getting to be creative while working at such a big place – with such mass appeal and extensive reach – it’s really unique! Lots of big companies would never offer the opportunity to have so much creative freedom.” But beyond that, it’s the idea that she can be walking down the street on any given day, and pass someone wearing something she sketched in a notebook. That’s something not everyone gets to experience.
Christian Cabuay, Product Manager at Gap Inc.
Christian’s title is DEVOps Product Manager, but a more accurate title might be entrepreneur slash problem solver slash investigator. His role truly is a combination of creativity and analysis; left brain meets right brain, if you will. His team manages a variety of technology programs and works with different parts of the business to identify inefficiencies, and then from there, figures out how to fix them. It’s a simple idea, but one that has the capacity for tremendous impact at an organization as extensive as Gap Inc. They operate on a “Build, Test, Learn” model, which gives them an opportunity to test new things and iterate to continually make programs better. But most importantly, it means that failure isn’t something they’re afraid of. “Sometimes you learn more from a mistake, than you do from a success.”
Jennifer Costantino, Color Guru at Banana Republic
In Banana Republic terms, “Color Guru” translates to being responsible for creating and curating any and all colors you see in Banana Republic clothing, so it makes sense that Jennifer’s office feels like a living, breathing Pinterest board. But it’s not just about color wheels and fabric swatches. Jennifer is an integral part of the design process at BR, working closely with designers on their vision for each collection and then bringing it to life with color. Banana Republic already has a huge color library (color libraries are a thing), but if a designer wants to use a color they don’t already have, Jennifer gets to make it and name it! “We probably create 25-30 colors per collection. Everyone gets really excited about new color names at the office. People will go out of their way to stop by the room to see the color, and be a part of the naming process. Everyone wants to name a color!” Needless to say, being a mad (aka brilliant) color scientist, and the person behind the colors that show up in Banana Republic product all over the world, is a pretty dreamy gig.
Carlie Cardona-Robbins, Fitness Studio Manager at Athleta
Carlie runs the FIT Studio at Athleta (yes, Athleta has a FIT Studio!), a place that is more than just giving people the green light to go to yoga at the office. It’s truly a representation of Athleta’s culture, living and breathing right at the heart of the company. But what does running a FIT Studio at Gap Inc. actually look like? Everything from scouting and auditioning potential instructors, stocking the space with some of the best equipment around, occasionally teaching her own classes, and working on some of the technology that helps get Gap Inc. employees into the classes from all over the company, just to name a few things. Yes, having a FIT Studio available at the office is definitely cool, but what’s even cooler is that Carlie’s job helps bring Athleta’s mission to life – real life, every day, even and especially at work, where we spend most of our waking hours. Athleta’s devotion to igniting a community of active, healthy and confident women and girls that empower each other to realize their limitless potential, is in some ways no better showcased than at the HQ FIT Studio, and Carlie is at the heart of it all.
These are just some of cool and truly exceptional people that work here in just a handful of jobs you probably didn’t know existed at Gap Inc. Interested in joining the fun? Check out our open positions and come join the Gap Inc. family.
Don’t miss out on the latest Gap Inc. news! Sign-up to get email alerts about news on Gap Inc. and our brands.