The Costume Institute just announced their Spring 2010 exhibition and the hosts for the Gala Benefit (to be held on May 3.) This year Anna will be sharing the duties with Oprah and The Gap’s Patrick Robinson.

Oprah and Anna together—that’s like some sort of world domination thing going on, right? Let’s just hope they can play nice in the planning process as these are two women who don’t often have to share.

This year’s exhibit sounds super interesting: American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. It will shine the spotlight on different archetypes of American femininity through dress and “reveal how the American woman intitiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation.”

This morning marked the final debut of Gap’s new 1969 denim collection, (we think).

So despite the fact that it’s fifty blocks away from my apartment, it’s one million humid degrees outside and I’m usually still in bed (though working) at 9am, I made my way to their flagship with the promise of Anja’s perfectly distressed skinnies - cute boys with coffee and Patrick Robinson weren’t bad either. (Yes, I know I sound like a brat.)

But when I got there, I wavered on my Anja decision. There was a full spread of the softest jeans in white, black, light and dark, with or without holes and buttons and even a riding pant in green with Gwyneth Paltrow’s name all over them (a good thing). Patrick and his team have been working on the fit and design for over a year and their attention to detail, especially considering the $69 price tag, is impressive.

I did walk away with the Anja’s - or in Gap speak the Destructed Always Skinny - but as soon as it’s cool enough to even consider pulling on pants, I think I’ll go back for more.

We’ve been anxiously awaiting the new CFDA Design Edition khakis at the GAP. Not as much as the white shirts, but still we’re excited.

Even better, we just learned that GAP’s Patrick Robinson along with designers Alexander Wang, Albertus Swanepoel, and the Vena Cava girls Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai will all be at the 54th and 5th store on Tuesday at 10:30 to say hi and launch the collection.

The lines will be likely be major. Go early, or risk going home empty-handed. And if you pick up one of Alexander Wang’s motorcycle jackets for us while you’re there, we’ll love you forever.

Gap’s mini-5th Avenue concept store is getting a new tenant.

Patrick Robinson’s teamed up with the people at Pantone for a line of brightly colored tees to fill in the pop up shop: “We wanted to create an explosion of color and bring some warmth and optimism to our customers.”

And since Pantone’s color of the year is Mimosa, the explosion is particularly sunny. Gap’s basic crew necks for men and v-necks for women will come in Pantone shades - we really hope they include cerulean - at the Gap & Pantone T-Shop which will also sell Pantone-colored office supplies, books, accessories and general trinkets.

It’s open today through February 8th. We suggest buying the shirt with this year’s color so you can tell everyone you know exactly what an $18 mimosa looks like.

“…A duality that could be either girly and pretty or androgynous in an Oliver Twist goes to a Nirvana concert sort of way. But will customers, especially those who look to Gap for jeans and T-shirts, get it?” - Eric Wilson, on Patrick Robinson’s new designs for Gap in The New York Times.

Everyone’s talking about Zara - Hayley got a new dress, I got a winter coat and now they’ve overtaken Gap as the largest fashion retailer in the world.

The Spanish chain’s profits increased by 9% while Gap’s fell 10% in the first quarter according to the Guardian. Blame’s fallen on the American consumer for cutting back on spending - but shouldn’t some of it be placed on the Gap, too?

While Zara’s devoted itself to absorbing high fashion runway designs and interpreting them for the masses with an incredibly fast turnover rate, Gap’s flailed its image all over the place - Euro designers, capsule collections, the all-American Patrick Robinson - to no avail. Their profits might increase the week their new white shirts hit the racks, but that customer won’t return until the next special collection - they’ll probably be at Zara instead.

Why did I buy my winter coat full price from Zara two weeks ago? Because I know it’ll be gone by the end of the month, replaced with some other diluted Rick Owens interpretation. Meanwhile, Gap’s overproduction means that if I like something, I can wait months with the guarantee that it will go on sale for a fraction of the price (good for me, bad for Gap) - but the bigger problem might be that I don’t like anything.

If Gap wants to cater to a jeans and t-shirt customer, then do that, without mixing in Pierre Hardy shoes and ThreeAsFour dresses, but if they want to cater to a customer who cares about Philip Crangi and Rodarte, do that. They’ve overreached, leaving their customers, and apparently their own brand strategists, quite confused.

Zara picked a customer early on and continues to target her while opening almost 4,000 stores internationally. If Gap wants their crown back, they better start paying attention.

Gap’s let go of their European design team according to The Telegraph.

The company’s numbers are down, (aren’t everyone’s?), but they’re attributing the lay-offs to a “greater demand for American-style fashions”. They’re also betting on Patrick Robinson to make the all-American clothes he designs from New York a little more fashion forward, and thus appealing to Europeans on their own merit.

Europeans desiring North American style, whatever that means, sounds a bit far-reaching. We’re guessing chic Parisians aren’t fawning over cotton t-shirts and boyfriend jeans from the Gap - even if they are pegged a la Katie Holmes. Fashion lust typically moves in the other direction - hello skinny jeans, scarves, Topshop, etc.

The pressure’s on, Patrick.

I love J.Crew. My mom snuck me out of class to go to the store opening in Orlando, I bought my first winter coat at the Rockefeller Center store, and I wait in suspense for each new shipment of Favorite Boxers. But scrolling through the site recently, I worry that someone has replaced my favorite preppy retailer with an evil twin sister like in Double, Double Toil and Trouble. Here’s why:

1. Yoga Clothes. Seriously? As Natalie points out, the Yoga trend died years ago, and more importantly, do J.Crew girls really do yoga? Don’t you picture them in a spinning class, or on a tennis court?

2. Awkward Girl. This isn’t a W spread, we swear. It’s just a J.Crew model sitting in a most unflattering position, making this cute gingham frock look about as attractive as a t-shirt at Savers.

3. The Luggage Collection. No joke. Italian leather luggage, in white, orange and yellow no less, for $1200 to $2000. For a little more, you could buy Louis Vuitton (or better yet, Tumi plus a plane ticket to Paris).

I get it. J.Crew wants to play with the big boys of luxury - thus the fine jewelry, organza ball gowns, and now editorial catalogs and insane luggage - but taken as a whole, are they really selling all of this to the same customer? Don’t pull a Gap on us now, there aren’t enough Patrick Robinsons to go around.

—BRETT KANE