Fifth Avenue, New York City, United States of America, 1997

"The Salon," a series of readings and discussions, opened in the cafe of the Scribner building. This combined superstore, cafeteria, bookstore, and arts and cultural center brought in young writers to talk about their work. In the cafe, books were sold on fashion, exercise, health, and fiction.

Many people were deceived by the fact that Gap had nearly doubled its number of stores across the US during the same period that the number of Benetton stores had fallen by more than half. Benetton was making more money in the United States than it had made when there were twice the number of stores across the country.

The Shopping Street, Ponzano, the Veneto, 1991

Here in Ponzano, beneath the gardens, is an underground street, lit by artificial light and lined with a range of stores. All these are Benetton stores, and they run the length of both sides of the street. This is the Shopping Street.

The lighting in the main street changes its appearance through the "day." At "night," although it may be the middle of the day above ground, and the middle of summer, the street is dark. The windows of United Colors of Benetton, of Mega Benetton, Blue Family, Benetton Man, Benetton Woman, Sisley, and 012 shine out under a black sky full of stars.

Six times a year, plus a number of occasions when "flash" collections are shown, these stores are hidden from general view. The street becomes a stage to present future collections to eighty agents and area managers from around the world. These include agents from the United States, Europe, and Japan, as well as agents from new developments such as Pakistan. They have come for a show that takes place nine months before the actual selling season.

The show starts, the models appear, disappear, and reappear in the clothes, and the agents go home again to hire space and present the collection to their store owners. The store owners place their orders through the agents, and the clothes are sold.

When the orders are received, the clothes are made and sent to the stores.