This fall, the New York-based fashion designer Sandy Liang brings her signature blend of feminine nostalgia and downtown cool to a new collaboration with Gap. Rooted in shared memories and timeless American style, the collaborative collection reimagines the brand’s time-trusted essentials through Liang’s playful, bow-adorned lens.
From pleated denim mini skirts and cropped vegan-fur jackets to reinvented fleece hoodies and bow-back trenches, each piece celebrates girlhood and creativity across generations. Inspired by Liang’s own upbringing above her family’s Cantonese restaurant in the Lower East Side, the collaboration is accompanied by an animated short film, Sandy’s Dream Closet, depicting a young Sandy envisioning the fashion possibilities of the future—now realized in this limited-edition capsule that merges nostalgia, imagination, and self-expression.
Whitewall spoke with the designer about how her partnership with Gap was informed by her upbringing and personal style, and what she’s working on next.
Sandy Liang on Designing with Gap
Courtesy of Sandy Liang x Gap.
Courtesy of Sandy Liang x Gap.
WHITEWALL: You’re partnering with Gap on a limited-edition collection of women’s and kid’s clothes. What about Gap was enticing as a collaborative partner?
SANDY LIANG: I like to partner with brands that hold emotional meaning for me. Gap is a brand I treasured so much as a child, yet is still so relevant to me today – especially as a new mom. It’s so special to release my first collection for kids. Seeing Rainer in the campaign makes my heart smile! I can’t believe it.
WW: The collection blends Gap’s heritage with your signature aesthetic, including bow-adorned denim. What are some pieces that best exemplify this conjunction?
SL: The Carpenter Jeans in particular feel like the perfect marriage between our creative DNAs. I’ve always loved Gap denim, so being able to put my own spin on the design with our classic bow detailing and star grommets was so much fun, and they come in the perfect wash. They’re the pair of jeans I want to wear every day.
“Getting dressed has always fueled my imagination,”
–Sandy Liang
WW: The collection was inspired by your own memories of growing up with Gap. What are some of those memories?
SL: I have so many, and most of them revolve around back-to-school shopping. The smell of the store. Waiting for my mom in the dressing room. I remember touching all the clothes and imagining what I would wear as an adult. Getting dressed has always fueled my imagination, and Gap was a big part of my discovery of fashion as a child.
WW: For the debut, you created a short film, “Sandy’s Dream Closet,” animated by Annie Choi. It focuses on a street in New York City’s Lower East Side above your father’s Cantonese restaurant, Congee Village, showing you as a child that imagined the possibilities within fashion and the future. Tell us more about this, and why it was important for you to create.
SL: I’ve always wanted to create an animation, so working with Annie on bringing Sandy’s Dream Closet to life was an unbelievable experience. Animation has such power to tell stories in a way that transcends reality, through an almost dreamlike state. Annie captured the energy of this collaboration so perfectly, speaking to both young Sandy and the person I am today. It’s a story that celebrates the power of our childhood dreams and the journey of becoming who you’re meant to be.
Evolving Designs
Courtesy of Sandy Liang x Gap.
Courtesy of Sandy Liang x Gap.
WW: How does the collection celebrate self-expression and girlhood? What about these points was important for you to convey through clothing?
SL: So much of my work begins with a sense of nostalgia and girlhood. Gap shared this desire to capture the idea of memory through clothing in a way that felt so relevant and fresh at the same time. For this collection, I wanted to create the kind of clothes that I dreamed about wearing when I was younger. From the denim to the faux fur, there’s so many elements that remind me of growing up in the 90’s, but through a modern lens.
“I create clothes that I want to wear,”
–Sandy Liang
WW: You launched your first collection just over a decade ago, in 2014. How have your clothes evolved alongside the modern woman’s style?
SL: I create clothes that I want to wear. My inspiration comes from many places, but it’s always important that our pieces are wearable in your everyday life. I’m so excited to see people wearing the Gap x Sandy Liang collection on the street in New York City – running errands, commuting to work, chasing after their kids – that’s who we created this collection for.
WW: What are you working on now/next?
SL: We launched Gap x Sandy Liang right on the heels of NYFW SS26, so while I’m always dreaming about what’s next, right now I’m just trying to soak in this moment!
