Gap co-founder Doris Fisher dies aged 94

Doris Fisher, the co-founder of American ready-to-wear brand Gap, passed away peacefully in San Francisco on 2 May. She was 94 years old.

The Stanford University graduate co-founded The Gap with her husband, the late Donald G. Fisher, in 1969 after a frustrating shopping experience when Don couldn’t find a pair of jeans that fit.

Together, they grew the single storefront in San Francisco into the global behemoth it is today, which includes over 3,500 stores worldwide.

Across her 40-year-long tenure at Gap, including as corporate director, Doris led the company's fashion merchandising and store design, and also helped shape the cultural tone of its advertising and product development.

Doris also had a deep commitment to the arts. Together with her husband, she amassed one of the largest private collections of modern and contemporary art in the country, and in 2009 pledged more than 1,100 works to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - one of the largest gifts of its kind.

"Doris built Gap with vision, conviction, and an equal voice in the brand from the very beginning - at a time when that was highly unusual for women. She was, simply, a true original," the brand shared in a commemorative post on Instagram.

"She helped give us our name “The Gap,” but her impact went far beyond it. Her values shaped our company. And her eye shaped our style.

"Doris worked side by side with our teams, guiding both vision and execution. With a belief in simple pieces done right, she helped define a new kind of American style - one rooted in individuality."

Fisher is survived by her three sons, Robert, William, and John, as well as 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Last month, news broke that Victoria Beckham was launching a 38-piece collaborative collection with Gap.

In October 2025, Gap announced its confident return to the UK high street, unveiling three new standalone London stores as part of a wider push to reinvigorate the brand.

After scaling back its UK operations in 2021 and shifting focus online, the brand announced that it would invest in a renewed brick-and-mortar presence, this time under the operational wing of Next plc, which runs Gap’s UK and Ireland stores and e-commerce through a joint venture.