Gap's fashion-backward moment

New York

AT 8:50am on a Wednesday, nearly two dozen shoppers hovered in front of H&M's new global flagship store on the corner of West 34th Street and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, eager to get inside as soon as the doors were unlocked at nine.

Directly across the street, a Gap store was also preparing to open. A lone woman stood in front. She was handing out fliers for a Cuban restaurant as pedestrians hurried by.