When does a style become iconic? Gap told us it'd be celebrating its first ever International Hoodie Day, on October 15, for the style's 30th birthday. I wasn't sure the style was ready for a branded holiday.

Then, the question went around the office. Do you consider the Gap hoodie iconic? Point one for Gap: no one needed to be told what was meant by "Gap hoodie." If I said J.Crew rollneck , half my time would be spent explaining the garment and its relevance. That's a data point. The second and more revelatory point in favor of Gap was a point put forward by a coworker: It's already iconic, and you just can't see it because it's too familiar.

That made me think back to the French exchange students that came to my town as a kid. They had two things they wanted to buy from America, en

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