Blog

Catalog #4 1980

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 the clothing and giving her the catalogs. She loved the clothes and as an artist she was drawn to the illustrations. She went on to study illustration at art college in BR's hometown of San Francisco and worked for years as a background artist for animation. She is now based in Oakland, CA as a graphic designer and illustrator with Secret Fan Base . She's been collecting and archiving at Abandoned Republic since 2011.

No Comments

Leave a Reply