The Gap-[MADONNA] union is all about the bedding down of commerce and celebrity. It's about cross-marketing in a culture that consumes super-stardom and new jeans with roughly the same zeal. Gap representatives aren't talking, but early word has it the television ads will feature Madonna performing her recent single "Hollywood" (which tanked at radio) and hip-hop star Missy Elliott singing Madge's 1985 hit "Into the Groove" (lest we forget the potentially lucrative back catalog). It's plain old good business.

"Madonna has publicly gone through what a lot of women do: testing styles and trying to see what fits," says Ceslie Armstrong, editor in chief of Grace Woman, a new lifestyle magazine that targets females between 35 and 54. "Motherhood and marriage fit for Madonna right now. So does spirituality. That's where our whole society is. She's also a moniker of cool and style. There are very few respected pop icons who span decades and lifestyles like Madonna does. The Gap is getting a lot of bang for its buck."

Callaway Editions, the US publisher of Madonna's forthcoming children's book, "The English Roses," is getting a lot of bang for the Gap's buck, as well. Some media reports have suggested that "The English Roses," a morality tale inspired by the author's studies in kabbalah and the first in a five-book series, will also be sold at Gap stores - which include GapKids and BabyGap. Madonna's literary debut, 1992's adults-only "Sex," had no such cross-marketing potential, and some observers wonder whether Madonna's ribald past will be a selling point or a distraction.

MIXED MEDIA

It's a long way from a double-barreled Gaultier brassiere to pre- washed khakis. But if anyone has a prayer of jogging that crooked path without breaking a sweat, it's Madonna, who has signed a multimillion-dollar contract to be the new face of the Gap. The fall ad campaign launches tomorrow.

At first the idea of Madonna hawking crisp white shirts for America's most ubiquitous clothing retailer seems more outrageous than any blasphemous music video or pornographic coffee-table book. Of course, outrage fits nicely into the arc of a career rooted as much in crafting provocative images as in making albums. Maybe in the jaded, seen-it-all, post-everything age the only truly radical move is to plop oneself smack in the center of the mainstream.

But donning denim is hardly part of Madonna's famous cycle of artistic reinvention. The renegade fashionista isn't on her closet floor clearing space for mass-produced mallwear - any more than she is swapping her Nars lipstick for Max Factor, which Madonna pitched in Europe in 1999.

The Gap-Madonna union is all about the bedding down of commerce and celebrity. It's about cross-marketing in a culture that consumes super-stardom and new jeans with roughly the same zeal. Gap representatives aren't talking, but early word has it the television ads will feature Madonna performing her recent single "Hollywood" (which tanked at radio) and hip-hop star Missy Elliott singing Madge's 1985 hit "Into the Groove" (lest we forget the potentially lucrative back catalog). It's plain old good business.

And yet the union of Gap and Madonna is as depressing as it is ingenious. It's never pretty watching an iconic pop figure fade, especially when it involves (and it usually does) selling somebody else's product. But the hype-heavy collision of these two aging brands just might work.

"It seems like a sympton of desperation," says Camille Paglia, professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. " `Swept Away' [Madonna's last film] was a disaster, `American Life' [her last album] was a disaster. Maybe being happy in her personal life, as a wife and mother, is putting her in a creative drought. She's lapsed, her presence is receding, and she's facing the dilemma of the aging star. This is a shrewd decision on her part."

The Gap, meanwhile, is hoping for a similar shot of buzz. The San Francisco-based retailer's miscalculated focus on trendy, teen- oriented clothing triggered a two-year decline in sales, and now the Gap is renewing its emphasis on standard-issue basics for a more mature - but youthful-minded - clientele. Who better than a 44- year-old yoga-practicing mother of two who happens to be a former sex icon to sell capris to American soccer moms?

"Madonna has publicly gone through what a lot of women do: testing styles and trying to see what fits," says Ceslie Armstrong, editor in chief of Grace Woman, a new lifestyle magazine that targets females between 35 and 54. "Motherhood and marriage fit for Madonna right now. So does spirituality. That's where our whole society is. She's also a moniker of cool and style. There are very few respected pop icons who span decades and lifestyles like Madonna does. The Gap is getting a lot of bang for its buck."

Callaway Editions, the US publisher of Madonna's forthcoming children's book, "The English Roses," is getting a lot of bang for the Gap's buck, as well. Some media reports have suggested that "The English Roses," a morality tale inspired by the author's studies in kabbalah and the first in a five-book series, will also be sold at Gap stores - which include GapKids and BabyGap. Madonna's literary debut, 1992's adults-only "Sex," had no such cross-marketing potential, and some observers wonder whether Madonna's ribald past will be a selling point or a distraction.

"She's passe for young people and has too much baggage for older people," says Brian Abbott, who teaches advertising and brand marketing at Long Island University. "The Gap has to build its brand equity, and I don't know if this is the right image for the future. Once all the excitement dies down and we just see her face in the ads, what will that mean to people? How does her image in the cone bra fit with the all-American image of the Gap? I think they've mixed up their message."

Which may be precisely the point. As the nation's largest specialty-apparel retailer, the Gap needs somehow to be everything to everyone - which can translate to total homogenization or something more along the lines of cosmic-grade unity. To achieve the far-preferable latter, enter Madonna, who makes mincemeat of niches by bridging sexuality and domesticity, trash and sophistication, porn and picture books, youthful fantasy and adult concerns, with brazen flair. Gap customers can take their pick.

"People are waiting to be told who they are," says Peter Bardazzi, professor of media at New York University. "There's a lack of a sense of identity - this is what scares me about America - and the Gap can define what reality is. The Gap and Madonna are both pure image, and they've already won by getting us to talk about it."

On the other hand, we're talking about jeans and T-shirts. For the cover of the September issue of Harper's Bazaar, which hits newsstands Aug. 12, Madonna strikes a serene pose in a ribbed white tank and blue low-rise cords. She gussies it up with what appears to be $10 million in diamond jewelry. There is also an erotic black fishnet garment peeking out from her midsection. Madonna seems to be a lean teenager and a hot chick and an elegant woman all at once. Her print and TV images for the Gap - which in the past has used fashion photographers to shoot beautiful portraits of celebrities from Dennis Hopper and Christina Ricci to Lisa Marie Presley and Anjelica Huston - are likely to be still more compelling.

"Even when she rebels against fashion, it becomes fashion," according to Jean-Paul Gaultier in Harper's.

But the proclamations of a longtime friend and collaborator don't necessarily reflect the broader sentiments. Madonna's power as a cultural icon in the new millennium is uncertain. If all goes as planned, the campaign will add incalculable cachet to a bland brand of clothing and introduce a generation of young consumers to a pop star who's flirting with irrelevance. But the kids may decide to spend their allowance on one of their own heroes, Beyonce or Ashanti. And it's possible that the soccer moms, strained by the economy and anxious about world events, just won't care.

HAVING DESIGNS ON CELEBRITIES From Barbara Stanwyck and Blackglama in the '70s to Debbie Harry and Gloria Vanderbilt in the '80s, famous people and fashion houses can't seem to get enough of one another. Here are some of the latest celebrity-designer hookups

timeless pairing of sex and class. We like to watch. Cate Blanchett for Donna Karan - Quirky thespian in sleek, modern designs. An inspired match. Christina Aguilera for Versace - Bare- faced and clothed, pop vixen cleans up good. Thanks, Donatella. George Foreman for Big and Tall - Need we say more? Adrien Brody for Ermenegildo Zegna - Dapper oddball Oscar winner meets exquisite Italian tailoring. Do they make a high-end muzzle? Colin Farrell for Ralph Lauren - The Bad Boy and the Preppy. Can a feature film be far behind?

Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com.