Mel and patricia ziegler photoshoot
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If you were a young professional in the mid-‘00s, Banana Republic was almost certainly where you went shopping when it came time to buy your first workwear outfits: Maybe a blazer you hoped would help nail that job interview or a sheath dress that you thought would clinch that big raise. Certainly, that was the case for Rachel Whitehouse — a creator documenting her chic, high-low looks on her TikTok, @clothesarefriends — who scored her first big job in a pleated Banana Republic skirt in 2016.
“Through the next seven years of my life, Banana Republic’s suit sets were with me every step of the way,” she says. “My team would constantly ask where my blazers and suit sets were from, and the answer was always Banana Republic.”
While the brand — first launched in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler as a travel- and safari-inspired company, before getting acquired by Gap in 1983 — was a mall mainstay
But, after seeing fashion publicist Gabriela
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Wild Company - by Mel Ziegler & Patricia Ziegler (Paperback)
About the Book With $1,500 and no business experience, the Zieglers turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Book Synopsis In the tradition of Pour Your Heart Into It and How Starbucks Saved My Life , a surprising and inspiring memoir from the founders of Banana Republic. With $1,500 and no business experience, Mel and Patricia Ziegler turned a wild idea into a company that would become the international retail colossus Banana Republic. Re-imagining military surplus as safari and expedition wear, the former journalist and artist created a world that captured the zeitgeist for a generation and spoke to the creativity, adventure, and independence in everyone. In a book thats honest, funny, and charming, Mel and Patricia tell in alternating voices how they upended business conventions and survived on their wits and imagination. Many retail and fashion merchant
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First, a small collection of photos of Banana Republic Travel & Safari stores I’ve purchased online from news archives.
This is not an tjänsteman BRT&SCo Holiday card, but it’s the next best thing. Our friend Gary Pinkerton shares with us this Christmas card from photographer Robert Castellano who took a lovely winter wonderland photo of the Banana Republic at the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. The card is dated 1999 but it was clearly taken the 80s during the Travel and Safari Era. Beautiful.
The photos below are images taken from around the internet. Where possible they are credited.
Possibly the best Banana Republic store photos ever, these come from retail architect Wayne Ferrell who worked on the stores.