There has been a lot of news recently at Threadless but I just haven’t had much time to report on it but I will try to catch up this week. The Threadless GAP collaboration is probably the biggest talk recently though. I could go in to detail on the various aspects of this collaboration and what it might mean but Erik at T-Shirt Talk has quite a comprehensive post on it already so you could check that out first. While I might not agree with everything, I think it is a good read.

Link: Does Partnering with GAP diminish Threadless’ cool factor? at T-Shirt Talk

Personally, I think the GAP Threadless collaboration won’t change things much. It’s not even really a new initiative. Threadless has partnered with companies such as Dell, Target, Microsoft and Gilt already. And I think that Threadless said this year there are going to be many new collaborations so it shouldn’t even come as a big surprise either.

Other bloggers, like Coty from CotyGonzales.com seemed to be worried about losing the exclusivity of Threadless t-shirts.

Link: Threadless X GAP invades a mall near you

But really, how exclusive are Threadless tees? They certainly aren’t exclusive because of price. The regular price is $20 but I rarely paid more than $10 for a Threadless shirt. I even recall buy several for $5 a piece. And while I get that they are not as big and famous as GAP I have seen Threadless tees being worn on 3 continents. In Chicago, Threadless’ hometown, you can even get Threadless tees from vending machines.

Something I noticed about this collaboration with GAP that is different from other collaborations is that the designs used are not actually available on Threadless.com. So it is not as if you have to worry about the t-shirt you bought from this niche website will be the same one your aunt buys in GAP. I imagine that many people who buy the GAP t-shirt will not even think about the Threadless connection.

Another thing to note is that the GAP Threadless tees will be sold at $29.95 which is almost $20 more than a standard priced tee on Threadless.com. There is a chance that fewer people will buy them.

Overall I think it is a good move for Threadless. They make more money for artists because more designs will be chosen to be printed. Designers can add GAP products to their portfolio which might in turn get them more business. Threadless will get more recognition and many people will discover Threadless for the first time through GAP probably leading to an increase in sales at Threadless.com.

I assume that this collaboration will be either a once off or a temporary thing and things will return to normal after it ends. At least until the next collaboration.

Link: Threadless T-Shirts on GAP

Threadless Loves GAP

To get some designs for GAP Threadless has launched a Threadless Loves contest entitled Threadless Loves GAP naturally. The prizes are fairly standard for a Threadless contest but one lucky winner will get $10,000 in cash rather than $2,000. That’s sweet.

Link: Threadless