GAP SS25 Campaign feat. Parker Posey5 Images
Party Girl might turn the big 3-0 this year, but Parker Posey is pretty sure she’ll never get tired of talking about it. In the titular role of Mary – a messy club kid turned good girl and wannabe librarian – the offbeat actor made a name for herself as a bonafide indie darling, and cemented her status as one of the most fab characters ever to hit the silver screen.
Decked out in luxury labels like Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, and Todd Oldham, Mary’s look came to life mixed in with thrifted finds and bright bits and pieces from Posey’s own closet, as part of what she calls “a true collaboration” with costume designer Michaal Clancy.
“There was so much creativity in the 90s, and so much brightness,” she explains. “It wasn’t just about looking perfect, it was about mixing vintage and high fashion. And there was also a lot of personal stuff in there, too. Like some plastic grapes in your hair you found at your grandma’s house.”
While Party Girl’s appeal has never really waned among those in the know, more recently, and especially since Pinterest took off, its scenes – and specifically Posey’s bonkers little outfits – have been everywhere. Up and down the feed, a new generation of fans are finding inspiration in the star’s knack for teaming a prim Prada sweater with a pair of camo pants from the army surplus store, or piling three different coloured Comme des Garçons sweaters one on top of the other.
Largely, she puts its sartorial success down to how natural it all felt. “I love seeing a new generation get into it,” she says. “But you know, it makes total sense to me. It’s not messy. It’s sharp. It’s got style. It’s got colour. And most importantly, it’s got humour and it’s got heart.” The film resonates, she continues, because it’s all about going your own way, both in life and when it comes to getting dressed in the morning.
“It’s about a personal dialogue between colours and pieces and designers,” says Posey. It’s about creating something that inspires your best self. You can put on different personas, mix things that interest you. It’s about feeling creative and expressing yourself through what you wear.” With the tide turning against the trend churn and a return to personal style rather than algorithmic dressing happening right now, what Posey says rings true.
Now, she’s taking that ethos to a billboard or bus stop near you, as she becomes the latest face to front a GAP campaign. In the new SS25 series, the actor slips into a series of wardrobe staples – from stonewashed blue jeans, to relaxed khakis, to a crisp white cotton button-down – and busts out some moves to prove just how comfortable and dynamic they are.
“Dancing is about who you’re dancing with,” Posey, who is a trained dancer, says. “It’s about tapping into what the other person is doing and kind of copying them, and that’s what I love about it. [Back in the 90s] I would go out to the Roxy with all the drag queens, who were really great dancers, and you’d just get thrown around. You can never do what they can do, but to take on the physicality of that was just a blast. We would go out dancing just to make each other laugh. There was something theatrical about it – like storytelling through movement.”
“[Dancing] is about tapping into what the other person is doing and kind of copying them, and that’s what I love about it. [Back in the 90s] I would go out to the Roxy with all the drag queens, who were really great dancers, and you’d just get thrown around” – Parker Posey
Posey’s inclusion in the campaign was a no-brainer. She’s currently making something of a prime-time comeback in the new series of The White Lotus, and her and GAP creative director go way back. “We met when he was a young designer in New York,” she says. “When this was put on the table it just felt so natural – like a cool, laid back, easy early 90s vibe. It’s been great seeing Zac bringing back a freshness to GAP.”
Click through the gallery above for a closer look at the campaign.
