Gap = Khakis.

Gap has teamed up once again with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to create and release another exclusive line of Gap Design Edition for summer. The last time Gap and CFDA did this was the summer of 2008 with designers 3.1 Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, Michael Bastian, Philip Crangi and threeASFOUR. For 2007, Gap had designers Doo.Ri, Rodarte and Thakoon outfit their mannequins with their take on the classic white buton-down shirt.

This year, the designers who took up the Gap challenge are Vena Cava's Lisa Mayock & Sophie Buhai, Alexander Wang, and Albertus Swanepoel. The "main ingredient", to borrow from the show, "Iron Chef", was khaki. All the items are available for sale online and in select Gap stores.


Vena Cava's khaki designs include two eyecatching dresses and a few pairs of khaki pants.

The dress shown on the left is one of the two Vena Cava dresses being offered. This would look fierce with a belt - black, brown or even a colored one to give a bit of a pop! I foresee that this dress would look sensational with the gladiator sandals that are all over the place right now. This could easily shift from summer wear to fall, with tights and boots, a turtleneck or longsleeve shirt underneath.

The other dress that has been designed by Vena Cava is the one below. I like this design a lot. I love the structure of the dress, especially the unexpected racerback! And seeing them paired with tights definitely gives me great ideas for fall!

There's a pair of pants and a pair of shorts that look promising (shown below). I'm loving how the shorts are a little flared, which will definitely give me a little more leg room. ;) I like the pants; they remind me a little of the J.Crew Boyfriend Chinos. But this time, they have a little personalization goin' on, with little "handwritten" markings on the legs and pockets. :)

Alexander Wang designs two jackets for Gap; I want to like them, but the designs do not stand out enough for me to get even a slight hankering for them. :(

Mr. Albertus Swanepoel offers up his millinery design in five different hat versions. The one below is my favorite. I've never had a wide-brimmed hat before. ;)