As I sauntered down Wisconsin Avenue last spring, enjoying the weather and the creepy stares of those shopkeepers who stand in their doorways, a rather unusual shop window caught my eye. While it has been years since I have ever really lusted after any article of clothing from the Gap, I found myself transfixed by the display of shop mannequins bedecked in numerous variations of white oxford shirts and shirt dresses.

In 2007, the San Francisco-based retail chain, Gap, grabbed onto the coattails of other companies like Target and H&M and released a capsule collection created by outside ”high fashion” designers. The artists of Gap’s choice were Council of Fashion Designers of America-nominated designers Doo-Ri Chung, Thakoon Panichgul and Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte. With the theme of the “white T-shirt,” these three all dreamt up a number of garments in an attempt to revitalize the Gap image.

Despite my growing disinterest in the clothing, Gap has been a strong presence throughout much of my life. Much of my childhood wardrobe was stitched with that little square, blue label, and I can trace my rate of adolescent growth through the frequency with which I moved through Gap jeans sizes. A few years ago, however, Gap abandoned its core production of classic jeans and sturdy cotton T-shirts, believing they would attract a larger market by upping the trendiness of their designs. Their sales have floundered ever since.

These three designers found themselves in good company: Luella Bartley, Tara Jarmon, Behnaz Sarafpour, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez all recently designed for Target, while Stella McCartney and Madonna have represented H&M. Yet when I visited Target to scope out the Proenza Schouler collection, I felt strongly underwhelmed. As I poked through the racks, I found a top or two that I considered trying on but nothing that really caught my eye. On top of everything else, Proenza Schouler had produced such a multitude of pieces that I almost got the impression they had pulled out of the design process toward the end and left it up to the company to finish; plain T-shirts, tank tops and polos littered the collection, making me wonder why Hernandez and McCullough had even bothered to put their names on these pieces. There was nothing special about what they had created; it all looked like — and it quite literally was — a cheaper, poorly produced imitation of high fashion.

A T-shirt, by any other designer name, still must fit properly and not be hideous.

H&M did quite well with Stella McCartney. Most of the pieces were fun and true to McCartney’s habitual style. Yet, at the same time, I do not associate H&M with quality; it is a last-minute purchase store, the perfect outlet for costume party dressing and an excellent provider of quick pick-me-ups. I would not invest in an H&M wardrobe. Furthermore, why I would ever choose Madonna to design my clothes remains to be seen. Anyone to whom fishnet gloves were once a wardrobe staple is, in my opinion, questionable.

What Gap has done right — and Target and H&M still have not — is bring high fashion to the customer, rather than patronizing her by downgrading high fashion to what the corporate team must have considered to be the “couture tolerance level” of the general public. The clothes at Gap were sleek and avant-garde. Furthermore, the collection only consisted of nine garments, giving each of them an exclusive feel. They were not for everyone — presumably the reason Gap chose to display them in only 100 stores across the country — and many customers were probably not enticed by the tailoring, the fit or the detailing. But to fashion plates with dwindling-slash-empty bank accounts, or even those simply interested in the evolution of style, the collection was a delightful shot of vitality in Gap’s floundering market.

On April 15 of this year, Gap will debut its second CFDA collection designed exclusively by 3.1 Phillip Lim, Band of Outsiders, Michael Bastian, Philip Crangi and threeASFOUR. This collection is larger but by no means less iconic. This eclectic group of men and women has produced such a variety of clothing that looking at them is a bit like being a kid in a candy store … that sells cotton sweets.

It’s ironic that Gap has found new life in the primary staple it should never have abandoned — the white T-shirt. It just goes to show: Stick with what you know and never compromise your standards. Timeless lessons from a timeless classic (fit).

Caroline Smith is a sophomore in the College. She can be reached at smith@thehoya.com. The Hoya Wears Prada appears every other Friday in The Guide.