Clarice designs classic American sportswear for everyone.
Clarice began her career at Gap, after winning a design internship while a student at Parsons. Under the guidance of Mickey Drexler, she was part of a design corps credited with revitalizing the brand. The turnaround was chronicled in a cover story in The New York Times Styles Section (”Hot Colors Blooming in the Dust of Khakis,” August 27, 2000). After starting out in Gap Body, she soon graduated to the $1.3 billion Women's Knits division. Some of her best known designs included the Color Blocked Patchwork Tee and the Favorite Tee collection, which is still sold today.
She went on to be Gap's lead designer of Women’s Sweaters, responsible for all aspects of concept, style and stitch development. This role required travel to Hong Kong and intensive communication with sourcing agents and vendors. Her sweater designs included the trailblazing Super Chunky Carcoat and Cozy Cabled Cardigans. Her reinvention of Gap's Crazy Stripe as a sweater and scarf was also a huge hit, and more than a decade later was back in Gap's holiday 2014 assortment.
Her creations for the Gap were featured in numerous editorial layouts as well as national print and TV campaigns, directed by the likes of Michel Gondry and featuring trendsetting celebrities such as Madonna, Scarlett Johansson, Erykah Badu, India Arie, Sheryl Crowe and Jennifer Garner.
In 2002, she joined Oshkosh, where she was part of a small team that created and launched the Genuinekids brand, an interpretation of Oshkosh B’Gosh for the fashion savvy Target customer.
As Design Director for Boys, she oversaw all aspects of design and development of Genuinekids and Genuinebaby Boys, growing the division from its inception in 2003 to a $87 million annual business. She also played a key role in shaping the overall GK brand image, overseeing the design of hang tags, hardware, tagless branding and marketing materials.
Each season, she presented concept to the heads of Merchandising and Design at Target. And as the brand's trend-spotter, she shopped in Europe, Asia and the West Coast twice per year. She also oversaw the launch of Core Denim for both Boys and Girls, which generated more than $40 million annually, and spearheaded brand extensions such as outerwear and accessories, which elevated the brand and added $10 million in sales annually.
She was a design consultant for Minnie Rose, a women's contemporary brand best known for cashmere and cotton tops and accessories. In addition to designing knitwear, she helped expand the brand's offerings into other categories, as well as collaborating with the president on seasonal photo shoot styling and trade booth design.
More recently, Clarice lead the sweaters and knits design teams at maurices, the Minnesota-based women's apparel brand. Following this, she relaunched her consulting business to service the needs of clients such as Banana Republic, NYCA, 525 America, Addyson Parker, Milo Tricot & Gray & Grey.
In 2017, news that the fashion was the second higher polluting industry, second only to oil, had a profound impact on Clarice’s professional outlook. She has been in pursuit of opportunities to shift the apparel industry towards planet positive approaches. In 2020 she Co-Founded a project, a mono-material closed loop apparel company called OAO Apparel, which is still in incubation.
Education
Parsons the New School for Design, BFA, Fashion Design, 1998
Accolades
Designer of The Year (Parsons), Finalist
Golden Thimble Award from Maryann Restivo
Gap, Inc. Scholarship Award and Internship, Women’s Division
Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Scholarship Award
Lord & Taylor Scholarship Award “American Dress Address,” 1st Place
The Wellman Group Apprenticeship, “Eco-Spun” runway collaboration with Amsale Aberra, featured at Seventh on Sixth
Skills
Hand & digital sketch, Spec & Fit, Storyboards, Raw Materials R&D
Adobe Suite, PDM, PLM, KaratCad, Microsoft Office
Team building, Strategic Partnerships, Process Development
Contact
clarice.lappe@gmail.com