Banana Republic Aims to Maintain "Mad Men" Mojo with Trina Turk

Gap Inc. credits its record first quarter results to Banana Republic's first designer collaboration: the two-time Mad Men collection created by the show's costumer, Janie Bryant. Now it's hoping lightning will strike twice, with its second collaboration also evoking the swinging sixties, thanks to designer Trina Turk.

Banana Republic’s North American same-store sales rose 5 percent in the three months ended April 28, the most in two years, while total revenue at the unit rose 7.4 percent to a first-quarter best of $622 million, according to Gap’s earnings reported on May 17th. 

As Mad Men grapples with the changing styles and mores of the 1960's, Banana Republic is continuing on the same path by signing Turk, known for her colorful, Palm Springs-inspired, 'cocktails by the pool' summer-ready capsule collection, including the strapless dress worn by model Coco Rocha (who's guest style editor for Target this month), above. (A selection of Turk's BR designs, arriving June 7th, will be available in a Gilt.com pre-sale at noon ET on Wednesday.)

Commenting on the success of BR's limited edition Mad Men collections, including the spring 2012 collection modeled by Rocha's fellow Canadian model, Shalom Harlow above, Gap Inc. CEO Glenn Murphy told analysts that "for Banana Republic to tie itself in a partnership with Mad Men, one of the top properties, definitely here in the United States was very good for their business. Again, a lot of customer increased, great sell-through in the product, and amazing feedback."

Jennifer Davis, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets in New York, told Hollywood Reporter, “Both of these are great co-branding opportunities. Trina Turk and Mad Men are brand-appropriate for Banana Republic. It’s smart; their customer relates to it. Trina is so much more color than we’d ever be, so much more print than we’d ever be, so it’s great to actually work with something that’s very different from who we are.”

Below, the Banana Republic x Trina Turk inspiration board: