E-Tailers Join Katrina Relief Effort

A number of apparel Web sites have rallied to offer support for the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort.

Sportswear manufacturer Big Dogs (www.bigdogs.com) of Santa Barbara, Calif., is offering a special “Operation Rescue Dog” T-shirt featuring its signature St. Bernard pictured over the American flag. The company’s message: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of the hurricane. If you would like to help, we hope you’ll join us in wearing this tee. With each one you purchase, $5 will be donated directly to the American Red Cross to assist in the relief effort.”

Los Angeles retailer Lisa Kline is donating 5 percent of all sales to the Red Cross from her site at www.lisakline.com. And San Francisco–based online retailer American Bridal (www.americanbridal.com) is donating 10 percent of all sales to nonprofit organizations including the Red Cross. “Each purchase you make will go in part to help rebuild our neighbors in the South,” said Shirley Tan, president and chief executive officer.

Lands’ End (www.landsend.com) is donating $100,000 in merchandise and 1,000 backpacks filled with blankets to the Red Cross. The company also intends to send additional merchandise on an as-needed basis as further assessments come in. Additionally, Lands’ End announced it would match employee cash donations from now until Sept. 23.

Lands’ End is also among a growing group of apparel Web sites—including T.J. Maxx (www.tjmaxxhomegoods.com) and L.L.Bean (www.llbean.com)—that are using a portion of their home pages to encourage donations to the Red Cross by directing visitors to the organization’s Web site via hyperlink, www.redcross.org.

Online shopping portal CafePress.com, based in San Leandro, Calif., which claims to have more than 2.5 million registered online members, also links directly to the Red Cross and offers its own “Hurricane Katrina T-shirt and mementos at its online store,” featuring dozens of shirts and caps with variations on the theme of “I survived Hurricane Katrina.”

Gap offline

Amid a sales slump, San Francisco–based Gap Inc. has closed its two most popular Internet stores so the apparel retailer can upgrade its online operations before the crucial Holiday shopping season. Both Gap.com and OldNavy.com have been closed for the last week.

Hoping to minimize customer inconvenience, Gap waited until after most back-to-school shopping had been finished before launching the overhaul of its major e-commerce sites, said company spokeswoman Kris Marubio.

She said the changes were too complex to enable the site to continue running. “We think this is going to make for a more compelling and exciting experience for shoppers,” Marubio said.

Gap isn’t saying when the sites will reopen. For now, visitors are being asked to leave their e-mail addresses so they can be informed when the sites are up and running again.

Site review: Hip-hype

Anyone up on today’s pop music scene knows the Black-Eyed Peas. BEP is everywhere—especially online with a hot new Web site (www.blackeyedpeas.com) that functions as a 21st-century fan club. It’s a “community” for the band’s vast global fan base and features some of the most state-of-the-art Web tools for bringing members together, promoting dialogue—and selling clothes.

Joining is free through November, and then a $2 monthly fee will kick in. There are chat rooms, forums, contests, polls, galleries, news and the not-to-be-overlooked store, featuring a growing array of garments.

The standard collection of branded tees, hoodies, caps and jerseys is offered. In addition, band member rapper “Will.I.Am” attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and has his own designer line available on a related site, www.iamclothing.net.

The line is described on the BEP site thusly: “I.Am clothing is aiming to fill the gap created in an industry where mass production consumes each person’s need for individuality. The idea is to create items that no one else is currently wearing. Each approved piece is numbered and signed personally by Will.I.Am. The maximum number produced of each style will not reach over 500, making each piece in the collection a must-have.”

The BEP site presents an enticing milieu in which a cool community of music- and fashion-inspired youth can mingle. It is created and designed by the fashion and Web gurus at L.A.’s DamnBrand (www.damnbrand.com)—Ivan L. Arnold, producer, and Tishaun Dawson, art director/visual design—along with programmers at the Netherlands’ Brothers in Art (www.brothersinart.net).