Co-founder of the clothing retailer Gap, Doris Fisher, has died at the age of 94 in San Francisco. The cause of death has not been specified. This was reported by The New York Times.
The Fishers founded The Gap in 1969 after Don Fisher was unable to find suitable jeans. They opened a small store on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco and then began opening new locations.
The company currently operates approximately 3,500 stores worldwide (over 2,500 owned and more than 1,000 franchised), encompassing the brands Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta.
Annual sales exceed $15 billion.
"In the language of Gap, she was a true pioneer. Doris was a full partner in founding the company and an entrepreneurial innovator at a time when it was extremely unusual for women," said Gap CEO Richard Dickson. Besides business, Fisher was actively involved in philanthropy and supporting the arts. Together with her husband, she built one of the largest private collections of contemporary art in the United States.
In 2009, the family promised to donate over 1,100 works to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
