It's hard to avoid comparisons between Banana Republic, J. Crew and Ann Taylor. Banana Republic is a division of Gap Inc., which was once led by Millard "Mickey" Drexler. Now, as chairman and chief executive officer of J. Crew, Drexler has put his energies into turning the formerly bland preppy business into fashion with an eccentric flourish. J. Crew Collection features items such as a tulle cascade wedding gown for $2,200; a Galassia jacket in a couture-quality fabric, $425, and snakeskin stacked-heel sandals, $358.

Several Ann Taylor prints this season, including an interlocking box motif and a circle pattern, look like Monogram's chain-link print, which is one of the collection's signature patterns. Ann Taylor Collection's double-weave jacket is $365; matching pants, $195; silk print top, $195, and sleeveless dress, $195.

The Monogram chain-link fabric appears as a silk dress, $150; silk skirt, $78, and chiffon scarf, $49.

BR Monogram also features a black suit jacket with pick stitching, $250; matching pants, $155; a sleeveless black silk dress with design, $175; silk blouses with puff sleeves, $68, and cashmere ribbed cardigans, $195.

A white trench with silver buttons is the most expensive item in the BR Monogram women's collection at $295. "The women's handbags aren't Monogram," the spokeswoman said. "We're supplementing them from our core assortment. We're taking a lot of care and attention to elevate accessories across the board." The spokeswoman didn't know whether Monogram accessories would be developed for women, but the men's line illustrates the potential of the brand. Men's prices reach $750 for a brown leather bomber jacket and the line includes accessories such as ties, messenger bags and a duffle bag for $425.

The Banana Republic Web site has a section for BR Monogram, but the spokeswoman said the buys for the store and e-commerce site are different.

Banana Republic is the least troubled division of Gap Inc., which generally has struggled with declining traffic and negative comps. Banana Republic posted a fourth-quarter comp-store sales gain of 2 percent and total sales of $764 million versus $766 million in the year-ago period. Gap North America was down 5 percent on a comp basis, with sales of $1.3 billion versus $1.5 billion, while Old Navy North America fell 5 percent on a comp-store basis, with total sales of $1.8 billion compared with $1.9 billion.