Steve Kornacki Single-Handedly Caused Gap Khaki Sales To Spike
Kornacki’s khakis are a Very Big Deal
Steve Kornacki is many things: political journalist, writer, television host, anti-sleep advocate, and election night hottie. Now, he can officially add fashion icon to the list.
Kornacki confirmed on air that his khakis, which were worn consecutively from Tuesday through Saturday of the 2020 election cycle on MSNBC, and swooned over for days whilst watching the “Kornacki Cam,” were from retailer Gap. He told NBC’s Savannah Sellers, “I’ve got a bunch of them,” referring to the nearly wrinkle-free chinos he donned. Fans of the recently dubbed “Map Daddy” took note, causing trouser sales to spike.
Gap noted that after Kornacki let fans in on his retailer of choice, it “saw a dramatic increase in online traffic and within a day, the number of Straight Fit Palomino Brown khakis we sold online went up 90 percent,” a spokesperson told the Today Show.
The MSNBC star has been praised and adored for his tireless coverage of the 2020 presidential election and the days following while we held our collectively breath awaiting final state counts. Kornacki kept all of us as calm as possible with his presence, whiteboard calculations, and back-of-the-literal-napkin-fast math.
The actual Modern Khakis in Straight Fit with GapFlex are still available online, though in limited sizes, and are on sale at the moment for $29. This seems a small price to pay for keeping someone upright and standing for five days straight looking like the “Kornacki the snacki” he is.
Of his newfound fame, Kornacki told TIME, “That’s a very loose use of the term ‘heartthrob’ it took a couple days to realize that stuff like that was happening. I didn’t recognize anything about it election night or probably the day after. But I started getting family and friends sending me things. There are worse fates in life than that. Some of it made me a little squeamish, but it was all coming from a good place.”
While Kornacki’s khakis are having a moment, we cannot forget about the necktie that remained untouched for the entirely of his broadcasting. The navy-striped number is being called by many journalists on Twitter to be donated to the Smithsonian.
Kornacki tweeted a photo revealing that the seams on the back of his tie had come undone despite his best efforts to staple it back together as one does. He captioned the photo: “Against all odds, the staples held through the election, but now I think the time has come to finally retire my tie.”
Here’s hoping we see many more hours of Kornacki on air in his now-famous khakis — non-consecutive, of course. The man’s gotta sleep.
