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Gap Inc. appointed<\/a> former Paramount executive Pam Kaufman as its first chief entertainment officer to lead the development of its \u201cFashiontainment\u201d strategy in partnership with banners Old Navy,\u202fGap,\u202fBanana Republic, and Athleta.<\/p>\n Kaufman, in her nearly 30-year career at Paramount, helped develop SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Emily in Paris, and PAW Patrol into lifestyle brands; orchestrate limited-edition collaborations from Crocs to Supreme; and form licensed partnerships with designers from Stella McCartney to Gucci. She was the first chief marketing officer at Paramount-owned Nickelodeon.<\/p>\n Kaufman will be tasked with building and scaling Gap Inc.\u2019s entertainment, content, and licensing initiatives across music, TV, film, sports, gaming, consumer products, and cultural collaborations.<\/p>\n With Kaufman\u2019s appointment, Gap Inc. is opening a Los Angeles-based office on Sunset Boulevard this spring. The office will \u201canchor key initiatives and reinforce that our brands and products are positioned at the center of pop culture,\u201d Gap said. Kaufman will split her time across L.A., New York, and San Francisco.<\/p>\n Celebrity endorsements became a bigger deal in fashion in the latter part of the 20th<\/sup> century when celebrities started wearing designer duds on red carpets<\/a> and increasingly lending their names to products \u2014 including Jaclyn Smith launching<\/a> her own apparel line with Kmart in 1985, and Elizabeth Taylor launching<\/a> her fragrance in 1987.<\/p>\n The Gap chain, in its heyday<\/a>, was famed for its choreographed dance ads, including ones featuring Madonna, Missy Elliott, Sarah Jessica Parker, LL Cool J, Aerosmith and Run-DMC.<\/p>\n The arrival this century of \u201cdrop culture<\/a>,\u201d marked by limited-time fashion capsules hyped on social media, augmented tie-in opportunities for celebrities and entertainment franchises \u2014 with many food brands<\/a> and fast-food chains getting in on the action.<\/p>\nGap Appears Poised to Recapture its Former Hype<\/h2>\n