Gap co-founder Doris Fisher has died in San Francisco at the age of 94.
Doris Fisher launched The Gap with her husband, Donald Fisher, in 1969, after he struggled to find a pair of jeans that fit. The couple that year raised $63,000 to open their first Gap store in San Francisco, where the name was a nod to “the generation gap.” The only items sold were men’s Levi’s jeans and recorded music. The following year the couple opened a second Gap store in San Jose, California, and began selling Levi’s for women.
Under the leadership of the Fishers, The Gap Stores would go public in 1976 and would eventually expand to include Banana Republic, which they purchased in 1983, and Old Navy, which opened its first store in 1994.
Doris Fisher was highly influential with the company's merchandising and store design and shaped the tone of the retailer’s advertising and product development, according to the company.
Current CEO of Gap Inc., Richard Dickson, called her a “true original.”
“As co-founder, she didn’t just build a company,” Dickson wrote in a LinkedIn post. “She helped create a cultural force — a house of iconic American brands rooted in creativity, inclusivity, and self expression.”
Donald Fisher passed away in 2009 in San Francisco at the age of 81.
Doris Fisher graduated from Stanford University in 1953, where she studied economics. She is survived by her sons Robert, William and John, and her 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
