Malcolm Todd may forget his shirt, but the Gap jeans and flip-flops stay on

Malcolm Todd is a wholesome rockstar. At least, that’s the moniker he’s given himself on his Instagram spam account, where he posts behind-the-scenes snippets of his life as a 22-year-old indie-pop musician. To Todd’s fans, who have been along for the ride since he dropped his first EP, Demos Before Prom, in 2022, the label feels fitting. Todd has an ineffable likability that can be attributed to, yes, his music, rife with heart-on-his-sleeve songwriting and catchy melodies, but also his boyish, unfiltered persona, which he shares with the millions that follow him online. He’s earnest and ego-less, a combination that’s given rise to a career that only seems to be pointing upwards.

Todd’s fans aren’t the only ones who have been paying attention; most recently, Gap tapped the musician, along with Obsession actress Inde Navarrette, to star in its Fall 2026 “Denim on your Own” campaign, released this past Tuesday, August 11. Set to Todd’s original rendition of Robyn’s iconic hit “Dancing on My Own,” the campaign video sees the artist quite literally dancing to the beat of his own drum (while fitted out in Gap Denim, of course). By including one of the internet’s current favourite It Boys, the campaign, directed by Tanu Muiño with creative direction from Gap’s Head of Creative, Calvin Leung, is already making a buzz, and is only the latest example of Gap’s crazy 2026 run. Earlier this year, the brand teamed up with fellow rising artist Young Miko, and just a few weeks ago, its campaign with Hailey Bieber became one of the most viral fashion collabs of the summer. 

With a focus on self-expression, “Denim on your own” feels like a natural fit for Todd, whose ability to show up as entirely himself has made for quite a rapid rise. Below, we chat with the artist about fronting the campaign, his skinny jeans phase and finding his personal style (which includes a lot of flip-flops). 

Congrats on the new campaign! Can you walk me through the creative process of making your “Dancing On My Own” rendition? How was that song landed on, and how did you go about making it your own? 

Malcolm Todd: I was given a few options from the Gap team about what songs we could do, and “Dancing On My Own” really stuck out, just because I love that song and I feel energetically connected to it. And then from that point on, they pretty much instilled 100 per cent confidence to just do whatever I felt on the song. They weren’t like, ‘Oh, you have to make a carbon copy’. They were like, ‘You’re the musician. We trust you. Just go have fun.’ They let me bring in all the people that I work with on my album and so, I just got together with my team of musicians, and we just went in and did what we usually do, which is have fun, get excited and try our best. It was a very natural process.

What was the energy like on set when shooting the campaign?

Malcolm Todd: It was very fun. It was definitely the biggest set I’ve ever been on, so I think it was intimidating for about 20 seconds, and then I realised everyone was just so stoked to be there. I think that was the most fun part of the job for everyone involved. You could really feel the high energy. It was honestly just like summer camp. 

The song “Dancing On My Own” also had a really big moment in HBO’s Girls. Are you a Girls fan yourself? If so, which character do you think you would be?

Malcolm Todd: I actually am not a big [Girls watcher], but my sister [Audrey Hobert] is a big Girls fan. I know everyone has a big crush on Adam Driver in that show, so hopefully I’m Adam Driver.

The campaign theme places a lot of emphasis on personal style. How do you feel your style has changed over the years? 

Malcolm Todd: It’s been a long journey of wearing clothes, from 1 to 22. I think high school is definitely a big time period in figuring out your style. I went to school on the west side of LA, and it was a very open place, so I tried a bunch of things – wearing a lot of crazy colours, sometimes wearing some very tight jeans, then very baggy jeans and then [ones] in the middle. I’ve gone through a crazy rollercoaster of emotions, but it’s definitely landed on a more casual and comfortable feel.

I feel like everyone had a tight jeans phase, unfortunately. 

Malcolm Todd: Yeah, I just wanted to try everything, and I think that’s what being young is for. 

What’s your favourite piece from the new Gap collection, and how have you been styling it? 

Malcolm Todd: I like the ‘90s loose jeans – I was wearing them in the video. It’s summertime right now, so I’ve just been very much in my t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops thing. That’s very California of me, but I’m pretty much [always] in a polo and a shirt and just wearing my cute jeans. That’s enough for me. 

I was going to say, I noticed you wearing flip-flops with jeans in the campaign, which does feel extremely Californian. How do you feel like growing up in California influenced your personal style?

Malcolm Todd: I feel like the weather and it being pretty much sunny and nice out all the time is unique to California, and that’s definitely affected my style a little bit. There aren’t too many layers happening, and it’s a little bit open. Sometimes I forget to wear a shirt. I also think where I grew up in California is a very open-minded place, so I think I was able to feel like I could wear whatever I wanted to. 

If you could describe your personal style in three words, which would you choose?

Malcolm Todd: It’s authentic, comfortable, and maybe sometimes random. 

When you’re headed to the studio to record, what’s your go-to work uniform? 

Malcolm Todd: The football player Deion Sanders once said, ‘If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good.’ So whatever that is – it could be just shorts and socks, that’s it, if that makes me feel good. Sometimes it’s a suit. 

If you could give people like one style mantra to live by, what would it be?

Malcolm Todd: Feel comfortable and don’t care what other people think. 

You’re trapped in an elevator with your celebrity crush. Who is it, and what are you wearing? 

Malcolm Todd: My celebrity crush… I’m probably in the elevator with Jessica Alba, and I’m probably wearing my Gap jeans, a funny shirt that makes her laugh and some flip-flops.