• by Sarah Mahoney , September 19, 2025

From left: Deb Babson, John Demsey, Michele Parsons, Reed Krakoff 

With six straight quarters of sales gains under its belt, Gap is “falling into” beauty and handbags with some head-turning hires. The company, which announced plans to expand into beauty and accessories earlier this month, has named Deb Redmond, who spent 20 years running Nordstrom’s beauty business, as general manager of Gap’s new beauty division. John Demsey, formerly executive group president of Estée Lauder, will serve as executive director of beauty. He has led such brands as Tom Ford Beauty and MAC Cosmetics.

Michele Parsons joins as general manager of accessories, following senior roles at Kate Spade, Coach, J.Crew and Tommy Hilfiger. Reed Krakoff, best known as the head designer at Coach and for his work at Tiffany & Co., joins as executive director of accessories.

Richard Dickson, Gap’s president and CEO, said the launch of the new divisions is the next phase in the company’s ongoing transformation. “Building on the renewed strength of our iconic brands, we are setting the stage for Gap Inc. to accelerate long-term value creation and connect with our customers in meaningful and culturally relevant ways,” he said in the announcement. “We’re well poised to not only expand our product offerings but establish these categories as promising growth engines for our portfolio.”

Gap will dive into the $100 billion U.S. beauty and personal care market first with Old Navy, introducing a family-friendly assortment in 150 stores this fall. Many locations will feature dedicated shop-in-shops with trained beauty associates. Beauty is scheduled to launch in Gap stores in 2026.

And Old Navy has already jumped back into accessories, reintroducing its handbag collection with a new lineup. “This collection is about giving our customer something they’ve been missing – beautifully made, chic bags that can be worn from errands to events,” said Zac Posen, Old Navy’s chief creative officer, in the announcement. “We drew inspiration from beloved designer styles but made each piece uniquely Old Navy.”