Gap culls UK design team

Clothing retailer Gap has axed its UK fashion design team, including members of its marketing department, in an effort to cut costs.

Gap’s London-based European design team was set up two and half years ago to tailor its clothing offer to the local market.

The retailer told The Sunday Telegraph yesterday that some of its London marketing staff had been axed, and that the team of approximately 80 staff had been affected.

Gap has not yet confirmed how many of its 80 positions have been culled, but a spokeswoman for the group told the newspaper it was down to ‘a very difficult economic climate’.

Gap’s UK and international sales slid by 7 per cent in July, compared with the same period last year.

The clothing giant has previously worked with UK design consultancies Conran & Partners, which created the US stores’ interiors in 2005, and brand strategy consultancy Eat Big Fish.