New York Fashion Week and Black History Month collide, all thanks to Gap and Harlem’s Fashion Row. This month, the partnership launched its second collection, celebrating creativity, heritage, and cultural expression while bringing together five designers of color. Daveed Baptiste, LaTouché, Igdaliah Pickering, Waina Chancy, and Nicole Benefield each reimagined Gap’s iconic denim through unique silhouettes.
When a coincidence in fashion takes place, it only makes the story more remarkable. As the designers were curating their four-piece capsule, a unifying motif emerged: the hibiscus flower. For four of the five designers, who hail from the Caribbean, the flower carries deep cultural significance, as beauty, grace, and spirituality serve as cherished symbols and heirlooms. Reflecting on this shared inspiration, Igdaliah Pickering told ESSENCE, “I think it’s so cool that we all love the hibiscus flower so much.”
Brooklyn-based Haitian-American artist Daveed Baptiste drew inspiration from Caribbean landscapes, incorporating fluid movement and intricate detailing. “There’s a jacket that we designed like a bomber situation, and it has the most beautiful, intricate ocean embroidery that runs throughout the entire jacket,” he shared with ESSENCE. In contrast, LaTouché, known for his precise tailoring, experimented with pleating and structure to create timeless, interchangeable pieces. “I have two little girls. I wanted to make the pieces timeless and interchangeable, and I wanted them to be able to wear them 15 years from now and have a nostalgia piece where they’re like, ‘Oh, my dad made this 20 years ago,” he told ESSENCE.
Caribbean heritage also shaped the collections of Igdaliah Pickering and Waina Chancy of Atelier Ndigo, with both designers incorporating hibiscus flowers into embroidery and button details and using teal hues to evoke the sea. Meanwhile, Nicole Benefield took a different approach, translating her signature aesthetic into denim. Her pieces are classic staples with a twist, featuring asymmetrical draping and apron-style tops that reimagine everyday essentials in a fresh, modern way.
Now in its second year, the collaboration is rooted in Gap’s mission to bridge gaps through creativity, inclusion, and human connection, positioning denim as a timeless and universal product shaped by diverse cultural voices. It reinforces Gap’s longstanding role in denim and cultural storytelling while highlighting Harlem’s Fashion Row’s commitment to elevating Black and Brown designers and advancing equity within the fashion industry.
“The Gap team was incredible to work with,” Waina Chancy told ESSENCE. “Each of us had big ideas; we wanted to do everything at once, but they guided us thoughtfully, balancing creativity with their customers in mind.”
For Chancy, the collaboration was also deeply personal. “One of my first jobs after high school was at Gap. This feels like a full-circle moment,” she shared.
The partnership gives designers global exposure while emphasizing the importance of representation in mainstream fashion. At a time when Black voices are often marginalized, Gap is prioritizing these designers, putting them front and center and celebrating emerging talent and milestones, such as Baptiste’s CFDA Empowered Vision Award win. By showing how denim can evolve when diverse voices lead, Gap and Harlem’s Fashion Row position themselves as a model for inclusive, culturally resonant fashion collaborations.
Priced between $98 and $148, the 20-piece collection is now available on gap.com, at select U.S. stores, including The Grove, Chestnut Street, Aventura, and Times Square, as well as international markets, including Japan, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, the UK, and the Czech Republic.