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Doris Fisher, who co-founded the iconic clothing chain The Gap Inc. in 1969 with her late husband Don, has died aged 94, according to a statement by the company.
A spokesperson for Gap announced on Monday that Fisher died on Saturday, surrounded by her family. The San Francisco-based company did not specify a cause of death.
The couple co-founded The Gap after a frustrating shopping experience when Don Fisher couldn’t find a pair of jeans that fit, according to the retailer. The Fishers opened one small store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco.
Initially men’s Levi’s jeans and record tapes were the only items for sale, but the brand became the foundation for a global retail empire and reshaped US fashion with a focus on simple casual looks from khakis and jeans to T-shirts and sweater sets.
The chain eventually expanded to other nameplates, such as Banana Republic and Old Navy, and now generates more than $15 billion (€12.8 billion) in sales globally.
Doris Fisher was the company’s fashion merchandiser for nearly four decades, while her husband focused on the business side. The company said that she came up with the company’s name, specifically to bridge the “generation gap” between parents and children.
“There is simply no equal to Doris Fisher,” Gap’s CEO and President Richard Dickson said in a statement issued Monday.
“In Gap-speak, she was a true original. Doris was a full partner in Gap Inc.’s founding and a path-breaking entrepreneur at a time when that was highly unusual for women. She understood firsthand the value of self-expression, diversity, and inclusion.”
Dickson, who has been spearheading a turnaround after several years of stagnating sales, also said that she “worked tirelessly to ensure that Gap Inc. always did more than sell clothes.”
Gap noted that Doris Fisher’s influence extended beyond merchandising and store design. She helped shape the cultural tone of Gap advertising and product development, while maintaining a “steadfast” presence in the company’s expansion and helped birth a culture tailored around customer needs.
The Fishers also were involved in philanthropic endeavours. The couple amassed one of the largest private collections of modern and contemporary art in the country, Gap said.
In 2009, the family pledged more than 1,100 works to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, one of the largest gifts of its kind.
Doris Fisher was also an advocate of educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. She served on the board of ‘Knowledge Is Power Program’, known as KIPP, a network of high-performing charter schools aimed at creating opportunity for underserved students.
Born in San Francisco, California in 1931, she grew up in a family “steeped in values of enterprise, culture, and community service,” according to the company. She graduated from Stanford University in 1953, where she studied economics.
Doris’ three sons, Robert, William, and John, are all committed, according to a Gap spokesperson, to carry forward the family business and their parents’ philanthropic commitments with San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, KIPP, Stanford University, The Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco, the San Francisco Symphony, and The Gap Foundation.
Additional sources • AP