The retailer has made a number of redundancies in its marketing team based in London and axed all its European designers as it returns to a global design model in an attempt to cut costs. Up to 80 jobs could be lost.
A pared-down European marketing team, which will remain in London, will be responsible for in-store marketing, window displays and events. It will also focus on ecommerce opportunities and store expansion, particularly in emerging European markets. Advertising responsibilities will be assumed by a marketing team in the US.
The European design department, set up in 2006 to create products relevant to the UK market, launched its first collection last August. However, according to the company, demand for US-style fashions meant it could no longer justify employing separate designers in Britain.
Gap will operate a small design team in New York, which will be overseen by its head of design for North America, Patrick Robinson, who has also worked for Paco Rabanne and Giorgio Armani.
A spokeswoman for Gap in the UK said: 'In the current economic climate we need to be prudent with costs so we will leverage our global products from the US.'
Meanwhile, fellow Gap Group-owned clothing brand Banana Republic, which launched in the UK this year and operates at a higher price point than Gap, has performed well, according to its owner.
Data file: Gap
- Launched in the US in 1969, Gap now has more than 3100 stores worldwide, including 140 UK outlets.
- The company's second-quarter sales for the 13 weeks to 2 August fell 5% to $3.5bn (£1.8bn), with like-for-like sales down 10%. UK and international comparable sales for the same period declined 6%.
- July like-for-like sales declined 11%, while UK and international comparable sales declined by 9%.
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