American fashion retailer Gap will shut its doors in Australia within the next six months, its local franchisee has announced.

Oroton Group said on Friday it would discontinue its relationship with Gap and expected to close its six Gap stores by the end of January next year.

The troubled Australian company said closing the Gap stores would allow it to focus on its core Oroton handbag business and limit future financial losses.

However, it was too early to put a figure on what impact it would have, it said.