So my fellow Coco Chanel Puffs blogger Soulove and I were discussing the Gap’s latest campaign.

I personally am, as usual, duly unimpressed.

They have...to do...something...different. (imagine me pounding my fist on a podium throughout that statement)

The Gap was once the bonafide go-to for your relaxed casual wear and basics… but now it has become, for many, a last resort.

I usually don’t even bother stepping into the store when I take a trip to the mall. (I wonder: how many of you do the same?). Why should I when I can get more exciting offers (yet still magically basic) from, say, American Apparel... or even American Eagle Outfitters?

Every time I did give the store a chance, if I wasn’t smacked with ho-hum customer service (an outrage at that price point) my visit was marred by a lack of quality, brazen attempts at convincing us to conform to a certain image or style, designs that lacked much imagination, and oh yeah, ridiculous price points.

While the leaders of the brand won’t be quick to announce to the world that something is disastrously wrong in HQ… I think the numbers speak for themselves. Take a look at the stock value over the last DECADE.

Now while I'm no analyst (...yet), I think it's safe to say that the current economic state here is only magnifying a trend that was already snowballing.

The Gap has lost it's style. That simple.  

Am I the only one willing to say it, Anna Wintour? Sure... they've still got a couple of fun and traditional quirks about them that keep us at least paying attention... but what about engaging us so that we buy? Or even stop into the store at all?

Will they make it through the downturn? Time will certainly tell.