It takes a lot of people to make an 89,000-square-foot space feel cramped, but the October opening of Uniqlo's largest store in the world, a three-story extravaganza located on a prime strip of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, was wall-to-wall. "It feels like all of New York is here," a man in a leopard fez and false eyelashes said to his companion, as they attempted to shove their way through a mass of people without spilling their saketinis. It was true: Among the throngs getting lost in the maze of sweaters were the kind of New Yorkers who lent the event that feeling of place-to-be-ness. On the mezzanine, legendary Times photographer Bill Cunningham poked at a rainbow of cashmere scarves; just up the stairs, James Murphy, late of LCD Soundsystem, navigated a forest of mannequin legs in skinny jeans, while Mickey Drexler, the CEO of J.Crew, held court beside some thermal underwear. But the biggest boldfaced name, the reason everyone had come, was making his way to the stage. "Was that..." one bystander murmured, after the sea of people parted to allow Tadashi Yanai, the billionaire founder of Uniqlo and one of the richest men in Japan, to pass by. "Was that Susan Sarandon?"

Indeed it was Sarandon, whose face was one of many New Yorkers on the ads with which Uniqlo had effectively blitzed the city. The actress, who gamely donned a Japanese happi jacket and cracked open a sake barrel with a wooden mallet, drew by far the most attention that night. If Yanai was upset about not being the star of his own party, he didn't show it. "This is the happiest day of my life," the 62-year-old told the crowd. He didn't care if anyone noticed him so long as they noticed the store. Which, how could they not? It was as if a giant glass spaceship had landed smack in the middle of Manhattan and announced its sovereignty. In case this wasn't bold enough, the following week Uniqlo opened a second store not far away, in Herald Square. The arrival of not one but two of these behemoths fille...