Gap launches premium jeans line

SAN FRANCISCO While $200 jeans may be beyond most Americans' budget these days, Gap has launched its own line of premium jeans, with an easier to swallow starting price of $59.50 per pair.

The 1969 Premium Jeans line features 12 fits for women and men in hues from the darkest ink to light, distressed finishes. Women's fits include: Always Skinny, Real Straight, Sexy Boot, Long and Lean, Curvy, and Perfect Boot. Men's fits include Straight, Authentic, Standard, Boot, Loose, and Easy.

To promote the new line, Gap has launched an interactive Facebook gallery that features a virtual runway show of the jeans, a StyleMixer iPhone app that lets users mix and match styles and jeans pop-up shops in New York City and Los Angeles that will be open through September. The retailer is also hosting simultaneous acoustic concerts nationwide at its more than 700 stores on the evening of Aug. 20.

"Forty years ago, Gap started exclusively as a jeans shop in San Francisco. Denim is our birthright and to celebrate we are reaching back to our roots and leveraging our extensive experience to reinvent an American classic with our new 1969 Premium Jeans -- fresh and modern for today's style," said Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America. "Denim is such a foundational part of any wardrobe, but traditionally premium jeans have not been accessible to everyone. We created this new collection to fill the gap -- delivering superior fit, finishes and detail at a truly affordable price point."