Time to tailor outfits

Gap is in trouble because the middle market is collapsing. The middle market is collapsing because your tastes, dear consumer, are getting more exclusive.

There is no money in churning out dreary, middle-of-the-road clothing these days: you've got to have a gimmick. Or a unique selling point, as they say in the trade. Gap's USP used to be good quality basics at reasonable prices. Then Matalan, Zara and Uniqlo came along. Suddenly, Gap wasn't unique any more.

Like Marks & Spencer, it hit back by trying to become more "fashion": its autumn range included seam-fronted jeans (very Marc Jacobs). Like other items in Gap's repertoire, these were totally on the money. Catwalkconscious women flocked to buy

them, alongside other Gap musthaves, like its £35 dirty denim miniskirt.

But several hit items do not a success story make. Competition on the high street is tougher than ever. When Gap is good, it's very, very good - but when it's bad, it's awful. In order to reverse its fortunes, it needs to have more consistency in its womenswear ranges and a more rapid turnover of stock. Better sizing in its menswear wouldn't go amiss either.

Denim is what it does best: it should focus on this and either get other products right or do away with them entirely. In today's harsh retail climate there is no margin for error.