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Catalog #4 1980

December 21, 2019 By In 1979-83 No Comments

Enjoy!

Another very early catalog that gives us a glimpse at the workings of a small but growing company called Banana Republic. My favorite pieces are the Banana Republic silk-screened logo t-shirts which are advertised as being yellow! I’d love to see one in person sometime, but it’s doubtful many survived. Note also the All-Night flightsuit, clearly one of Patricia Ziegler’s favorites, a few versions of which was featured for years in the catalog. 

Of special note is the cover which has the rare suggestion of a figure in the clothes rather than the headless models we are used to. I imagine at some point there was a decision made about how to represent the clothing, there are some early catalogs that have rough figures sketched into them. The cover on this is bold in design and is one of my favorites of the early batch. 

About The Author

Robyn Adams
Robyn’s fascination with Banana Republic began in 1984 when her Alaskan adventurer father began buying their clothing and giving her their catalogs. She loved the clothes, and as an artist, she was drawn to the illustrations. Robyn went on to study illustration at an art college in Banana Republic’s hometown of San Francisco, CA, and she worked for years as a background artist for animation. She is now based in Oakland, CA and works as a graphic designer and illustrator. She has been collecting and archiving at Abandoned Republic since 2011.