In 1983, Gap purchased the company, changed the name to "Banana Republic", and rebranded the stores to achieve a more upscale image.

[9][10] The Zieglers recount their adventures in the first ten years in their memoir, Wild Company, published in 2012 by Simon and Schuster.

By 1988 the founders, Mel and Patricia Ziegler, lost creative control,[12] eventually rebranding it as masstige, an accessible mass luxury clothing retailer.

Banana Republic's presence in South Korea debuted in August 2007 with a store in the Apgujeong district of Seoul.

[18] In October 2016, Banana Republic announced that it would close all its UK stores by the end of the year, due to falling sales.

[13] In August 2020, Banana Republic alongside Gap announced that they will close over 225 store locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The original plan was to close only 90 stores, however, they expanded the number as a consequence of the financial effects caused by the pandemic.