Banana Republic [IG] released its Fall 2025 Campaign ‘San Francisco, 1978’, with a series of images that mean more if we look under the hood of human events that year, including the brand’s founding.

And if we’re not ‘curious’ — borrowing a concept from Banana Republic’s Spring 2025 Campaign in foreign lands — we’re left looking at a series of poetic, even solitary images, that are not wanting.

The facts are that Banana Republic has been on the road most of the year. Returning to San Francisco and Mill Valley is a good resting place for the holidays.

Banana Republic ‘San Francisco 1978’ models Andreea Diaconu, David Corenswet [actor playing Superman], Giacomo Cavalli, and Paula Soares are lensed by Sonia Szostak [IG] with creative direction by Michael Scanlon. / Hair by Michal Bielecki; makeup by Dan Duran

Founded in 1978

Banana Republic was founded in 1978 by Mel and Patricia Ziegler in Mill Valley, California, 14 miles north of San Francisco. The company was originally named "Banana Republic Travel & Safari Clothing Company" before being sold to Gap Inc. in 1983.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in 1978

AOC queried whether 1978 in San Francisco-Mill Valley was a good year. The response was ‘not really’. Surely millions of Californians living in Banana Republic country would disagree. So we ran down why the response to our question was so glum.

1978 was a complex and often tragic year for San Francisco, defined by political assassinations and major social upheaval. Yes, it was also marked by cultural and sporting bright spots like the burgeoning punk scene and the SF Giants' strong performance.

The year is remembered as a critical turning point that reshaped the city's identity — largely due to back-to-back major events towards the end of 1978. And those events had the attention of large numbers of Americans — and most definitely New Yorkers.

Difficulties in 1978 San Francisco

Assassinations: The assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27 were devastating events that shocked the city and the nation. Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Before his death and then afterwards in Milk’s memory, San Francisco passed significant legislation to protect LGBTQ rights and became known as a leading city in America that invited members of the LGBTQ community to live there.
Jim Jones: The Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, moved its congregation from San Francisco to Guyana, and the year ended with the mass murder-suicide of 918 people at Jonestown on November 18. Followers of Jones — including over 300 children who died first — drank cyanide-poisoned juice that prompted grueling deaths in a spectacle lasting 4 1/2 hrs. Jones consummated the shocking catastrophe of submission by putting a bullet in his head.

2025 and a New Mayor: Daniel Lurie

Fast forward to now and San Francisco has a new mayor: Daniel Lurie.

New York media expressed little interest in the new mayor of San Francisco elected in November 2024, but AOC has been hot on his trail. Daniel Lurie defeated incumbent mayor London Breed, who now an adviser to the Aspen Institute, where she is involved in teaching, mentoring, and public speaking for the organization's civic leadership program. The Aspen Institute is tippy-top and Breed will make many contacts there.

Update: with the early November announcement that Nancy Pelosi will retire from Congress at the end of this term, London Breed is considering a run [with lots of competition] for Pelosi’s seat. Follow the link top of page for more in-depth analysis of Banana Republic and San Francisco’s new mayor.