Zip

Zip (also known as Gash in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories) is a recurring clothing chain first introduced in Grand Theft Auto III. Whilst most of its depictions in the series are cosmetic, Zip serves as an interactive clothing chain in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
The Zip brand is commonly associated with consumerism in the series, prominently featured in both Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on shopping bags carried by certain pedestrians in the commercial districts of Newport and Belleville Park in Staunton Island, Liberty City; Zip boxes may also be found in the rear compartment of certain Landstalkers, implying the vehicle is used to transport excessive amount of purchased Zip merchandise. One location exists in-game in Belleville park in both games, although its inaccessible. Several Zip ads also appear at The Shopping Mall.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the Zip brand is replaced by Gash, which shares the same logo design as Zip; however, Zip logos are visible on Benson courier vans and Hotring Racers in the game. The game also features a two-storey Gash outlet at the North Point Mall in Vice Point, Vice City, which prominently features a "Casual" clothing pickup in front of the second floor entrance, and is also incorporated into the mission "Shakedown" as one of the outlets the player is required to intimidate for protection money. A hidden package can be picked up at the back of the upstairs west wing in the Gash store above the interior's escalators. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the second floor of what would be Gash outlet is a Flyingdale's store while the first floor appears to be either vacant or under renovation.

The Gash brand is also promoted on a blimp that floats hundreds of feet above Downtown Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Zip serves as a chain of interactive clothing stores in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, unlocked upon completion of "Are You Going to San Fierro?"; the outlet serves as a mid-range clothing retailer ranked between Binco and Sub Urban, and ProLaps, Victim and Didier Sachs, selling clothes priced moderately. The chain boasts a total of four outlets all over San Andreas.

In addition, an eight storey building in King's, San Fierro, features scaffolfing with banners that sport the Zip logo and an announcement that the building would house a Zip outlet. This building could quite possibly be based on that of the real Gap headquarters Zip is based from, because of the fact that the real Gap headquarters in San Francisco, California, was built right around the same time the game takes place.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
Zip reappears in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, albeit with a logo closer to Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories logo, and no longer featuring a background with the wording. The store is inaccessible to the player and plays no role in the storyline whatsoever.

Clothing in GTA San Andreas


Clothing on offer from Zip primarily consist of mid-range casualwear that are not primarily suited for use among gang members, as nearly all of the clothing lack the green gang colors of the Grove Street Families, as opposed to those found in Binco and Sub Urban. However, a few generic clothing from Zip (T-shirts and hoodies) are in fact recolors of clothing seen in other stores, and Zip is also the only clothing store that offers rugged street or hiking boots.


 * For a comprehensive list of clothing available from Zip in GTA San Andreas, see /Clothing in GTA San Andreas.

Influence
Zip is based on clothing retailer. Its logo in the 3D Universe is similar to the former logo of Gap.

Trivia

 * Zip was originally meant to be available sometime before unlocking San Fierro, as seen in this screenshot of CJ wearing a plaid shirt and hiking boots while performing "Are You Going to San Fierro?".
 * Gash is one of several fictional brands from the GTA series that is featured in Manhunt, another Rockstar North game. Specifically, Gash bags can be found in the Reporter's Apartment in Carcer City.
 * Zip appears to specialise in khaki clothing, with a store in San Fierro claiming to have "five more floors of khakis". The Zip store under construction in King's has signs with the motto 'With six more floors of khakis'. However, the final two letters of the word "khakis" are smeared out with concrete, creating the word "khak".
 * While Gap may indirectly refer to the female vulva, the term Zip is believed to be an impression of a zipped vulva.
 * Gash, however, is slang for vagina. It also means a large, gaping wound.
 * ZIP was meant to make an appearance as an available clothing store in Grand Theft Auto IV, but it was replaced with Modo.
 * There is a deteriorated billboard for Gap in Hepburn Heights in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories that appears to have been covered up with an advertisement for Sunshine Shine, which is ripped to show the previous Zip advertisement. It is possible to see the two torsos of two people under the ripped advertisement. Upon further analysis, they appear to be taken from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 * One of the torsos appears to be that of Michelle Cannes, one of Carl Johnson's girlfriends, from the latter game.
 * The original Zip logo in the HD Universe is almost identical to the actual logo of Gap in real life.