What do you want / want to give this holiday?

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happy biggest shopping day of the year, everyone! And here’s to the official start of holiday gift shopping…

tell me, did you shop today? 

Despite the fact that I work in the industry and generally like to shop, I really don’t get the 3am thing. My sleep and peace of mind is far more important to me than the real deal. But I get that plenty of people think it’s fun, and you can get some really good deals on certain items, so no judgement here, just not for me. Despite this, I am certainly not above a little retail indulging on this day at a reasonable hour, and that I did, both online and in brick-and-morter (yarn shop for knitting presents, flea market pop-up for interesting houseware finds).

In honor of Black Friday I have posted the photos from the Gap’s Holiday 2010 Ad campaign, which I happen to love. Gap changed it up a bit this year by taking their models into the out-of-doors into interactive street environments and away from the white screens. The shots remind me of those you see in outfit posts in fashion blogs, I think they were inspired by us all:  natural, dynamic street poses, intimate up-close shots, individual personality poses, interaction with real props, complete street-ready mix-and-match outfits (not “items”), interesting cropping. For models Gap used a mixture of modern pop-culture icons that they felt their target customer could relate to: actors and actresses in relavent movies and tv shows, models we see everywhere who also do good in the world, social media inventors, dancers and even a well-known fashion blogger. The tag line for the campaign “what do you want this holiday”  ties into in-store promotions for their “most wanted items” – items their designers have decided you just need to own and should want to own. The cool thing about the campaign though is that each model/celebrity/whatever who appears in the ad campaign has chosen a charity to represent. Gap created a video of the making of the ads, and for every “like” the video gets on facebook, Gap will donate $1 to each charity that was chosen. Pretty cool huh? So get on with your  facebook liking here.

In the campaign Gap asks each of their models the question: 

“If you could give anything in the world what would it be?”

True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten supports City of Hope    “all hugs, no worries”

Social Media whiz Alisa Leonard supports Goods for Good     “One zillion laptops and one epic hat”

Model and co-founder of FEED Projects, Lauren Bush, supports FEED Projects    “a seat for every kid at the table”

Style blogger Susie Bubble (Style Bubble) supports Shelter England     “Play down the crazy, dial up the cozy”

Comedian, writer and star of NBC’s Community, Donald Glover supports Community Connections   “less naughty, more nice”

Actress and Activist Isabel Lucas  supports Sea Shepherd  “Sequins in the city and more fish in the sea”

The Dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied supports Baryshnikov Arts Center    “To get the whole world moving together” 

Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai support Camp interactive   “for kids to know where they’re headed but remember where they’ve been”

Broadway’s “Spider-Man,” Reeve Carney supports Partnership for the Homeless   “Sun in New York, snow in LA”

Actress Yaya DaCosta supports Women for Women international     “A little shine and a lot of faith”

Models Lily Aldridge and Boyd Holbrook   “For everyone to find the one”