Catherine Deneuve, Kid Cudi, Katie Holmes. Sacai, Nike, Brain Dead. There’s no end to the people and labels that A.P.C. has collaborated with over the years, but none ever got founder Jean Touitou going quite like his new hookup with Gap.

French fashion’s most unfiltered idealist, Touitou is on a Zoom call from Paris with wife and creative collaborator Judith by his side, and he couldn’t sound more chuffed if he tried. “This is always what I wanted to do,” he declares. “A broader audience – this has always been my dream. Of course, I love our audience, and I wouldn’t be here without them, but it’s a real moment of pleasure to at last come to this reality.”

The project came about via the Touitous’ long friendship with Zac Posen, the executive vice president and creative director of Gap Inc., who might have picked up a thing or two about brand partnerships from his Paris pals. Gap has been pumping out collabs (Victoria Beckham, Palace, Doen, etc.) since he landed at the company in 2024. Posen introduced the Touitous to Richard Dickson, Gap’s CEO, over drinks at their Paris place, everybody got along, et voila! A 37-piece collection spanning stripey tees, rigid denim jean jackets and miniskirts, and the sine qua non of cargo jackets hits Gap’s e-comm site this Friday, as well as select Gap stores across the world.

Freshly home from their summer holidays in Pantelleria, Jean and Judith marvel at how well it all came together. “We gave them really ambitious research of fabrics, finishes, and details, and we spent a lot of time at fittings. Those army jackets – they’re not easy to do” says Judith. “We were eager to understand how they work, and the contrary as well. It was a super smooth, super natural process.”

Jean Touitou launched A.P.C. back in 1987 as a protest against fashion’s gaudy excesses of the time. His taste for “perfect pattern cutting and perfect fabric” has kept A.P.C. small compared to a giant like the Gap, but their ethoses are aligned; both stand for authenticity and a sort of anti-trend timelessness. “For me, there is a chic way to be casual and a casual way to be chic,” Touitou says. But still: “I find it quite revolutionary that a brand capable of reaching a broad audience is also capable of listening to radical minimalists like us.”

Gap X A.P.C. will be available to shop from 18 September at Gap.co.uk and select stores.

Shop the collection

X A.P.C. Oversized Utility Jacket

X A.P.C. High-Waist Stride Jeans