How GAP quietly engineered one of fashion’s most impressive TikTok comebacks
A few years ago, GAP — the American denim brand once synonymous with easy basics and classic ’90s style — felt like a fading memory. Younger consumers associated it more with childhood mall trips than with anything happening in culture today. The basics were still there, but the relevance wasn’t. And in an industry where attention is the currency, GAP was slipping out of the conversation.
But scroll through TikTok now and the picture looks completely different. GAP sits at more than 833,000 followers, as tracked on FashionUnited's TikTok Index and has re-emerged as a brand Gen Z genuinely engages with. This follower count represents an astounding achievement: an approximate 940% increase in the last 12 months, climbing from a baseline of roughly 80,000 followers to its current total. The transformation didn't happen overnight. Instead, it's the result of a marketing evolution that gradually rebuilt GAP's cultural identity and led to the explosive momentum we're seeing today.
The first signs of this shift appeared when GAP started leaning into what it has always done best: denim, movement, and simplicity. Rather than reinventing itself completely, the brand reframed its heritage for a generation that communicates through short-form video. TikTok creators became the bridge. Micro-influencers, dancers, and style-focused accounts began styling GAP pieces in their own language — unfiltered, energetic, personal. Slowly, GAP’s feed moved away from polished catalog shots and toward content with personality. This creator-led approach gave the brand a new, more dynamic identity and brought GAP into conversations around Y2K dressing, thrift culture, and nostalgic American basics.
That consistency laid the foundation for what would become GAP’s biggest cultural moment yet: the Better in Denim campaign with global girl group KATSEYE. Set to Kelis’s Milkshake, the campaign blended strong choreography, expressive movement, and updated denim silhouettes. It didn’t feel like an ad repurposed for TikTok — it felt native to the platform. Every detail was built with shareability in mind: the layered cast, the circular set, the reengineered Long & Lean jeans, the blend of jazz funk and hip-hop choreography, and of course the global appeal of KATSEYE’s members.
@gap Better in Denim. This is denim as you define it. Your individuality. Your self-expression. Your style. Powerful on your own. Even better together. Featuring @KATSEYE. “Milkshake” by @kelis Directed by Bethany Vargas. Choreographed by @robbieblue_ Explore the campaign at link in bio. #BetterinDenim ♬ original sound - Gap
The response was instant. The campaign generated hundreds of millions of views within days and quickly became GAP’s most reshared and talked-about TikTok moment. But what made it land so well wasn’t just the star power or the sound choice — it was the timing. Because GAP had already rebuilt a foundation on TikTok through creators and nostalgic storytelling, the KATSEYE drop didn’t arrive into a void. It arrived into momentum.
What’s particularly interesting from a marketing perspective is how GAP balanced nostalgia with evolution. Instead of chasing trends, the brand focused on what it already owned — classic denim, iconic hoodies, movement — and then brought those elements forward through culture rather than corporate rebranding. TikTok became the perfect medium for that shift: a place where dance, fashion, and personality collide.
Today, GAP’s renewed visibility shows that heritage brands can make powerful returns if they understand how to speak the visual language of younger audiences. Creator partnerships, refreshed classics, and platform-first storytelling turned a once-static brand into something dynamic again. The KATSEYE campaign wasn’t the cause of GAP’s revival — it was the confirmation of it.
To see the numbers behind this rise, you can explore GAP’s TikTok growth on FashionUnited’s TikTok Index, where the brand’s follower trajectory is updated monthly. It’s a clear snapshot of how cultural relevance now translates directly into digital growth — and how a legacy brand can rewrite its place in the algorithm.
Explore the FashionUnited TikTok Fashion Index here!