Gap Japan Puts Rapper LEX in Its Holiday Campaign, With a Shoot, a Video and an Interview for GAP MUSIC

Gap Japan has made the rapper LEX the face of the third volume of GAP MUSIC, the music side of its holiday campaign. Gap announced it on Monday, November 9: a fashion shoot, an interview and a video of LEX in the HOLIDAY 2026 collection, under the campaign line "Give your gift. 届けよう。あなたらしく。", which roughly reads as give your gift, deliver it your own way. The shoot and interview are on gapmusic.jp, and Gap's release says NAGAN SERVER, a rapper and upright bassist with roots in hip-hop and jazz, contributes a playlist.

Gap's release ties the project to the company's start: it opened in San Francisco in 1969 selling denim and records. GAP MUSIC's page lists LEX's story. He was born in 2002 in Kanagawa, started putting songs on SoundCloud at 14, released his first album, LEX DAY GAMES 4, at 16 in 2019, headlined the POP YOURS festival in 2024, toured Zepp venues in five cities in February and played his biggest show yet at TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO in October. Gap describes a mellow singing voice over aggressive beats and lyrics that wear their feelings openly, with a mostly young audience.

Gap Japan, photographed by Teruo Horikoshi

The clothes are Gap's own holiday staples. The first look layers two CashSoft crewnecks, a stripe and a Fair Isle, ¥9,990 each, over a relaxed flannel shirt (¥7,990) and baggy khakis (¥10,900), with a heavyweight boxy tee and a vegan leather braided belt. The second is a relaxed GAP logo zip hoodie lined in fleece (¥10,900) under a barn denim jacket (¥15,900), with '90s loose-fit jeans (¥9,990) and a chunky CashSoft beanie (¥3,990). Prices are Gap Japan's, as listed on the GAP MUSIC page.

In the interview, LEX reads the campaign line as being yourself even when it's a little frightening, and says he'd give his fans passion, the raw kind he had as a teenager and tries to hold on to by staying a kid. His holiday listening runs from Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You to Frank Sinatra's My Way, which he went back to after finding Sid Vicious's version through '70s punk, and The Police's Every Breath You Take. Asked about Gap, he says he wore it as a child and remembers thick knit sweaters his parents bought him, that he liked the white zip-up hoodie and the striped sweater, and that it was fresh to see Gap with this kind of taste.

Gap Japan, photographed by Teruo Horikoshi

The photographs are by Teruo Horikoshi and the video by Motoyuki Sasaki, with styling by Yoh U and hair and make-up by Taichi Yoneo.

Our read

Japan is where Gap's music-first positioning has the most room: a rapper who plays arenas at 24 is a sharper holiday sell to a young audience than another celebrity carol. It's also a cheap way into the look. Everything LEX wears is under ¥16,000, and the stripe-over-Fair-Isle layering is a styling trick anyone can copy with two sweaters they already own. And by having him talk about his parents buying him Gap knits, the campaign sells Gap's history to a young audience through someone who grew up wearing it.