At Gap’s New York showrooms on Thursday night, as the retailer presented its Gap and Old Navy brands’ Spring 06 collection to the fashion media, the talk was of a stronger focus on “fresh casual American style” and “optimistic” colours.

But earlier in the evening, the company’s top executives had painted a far darker picture of the performance of the largest US clothing retailer, announcing third-quarter earnings that were down 20 per cent. Overall sales also fell 3 per cent to $3.9bn. And sales at stores open at least a year were down 7 per cent – the fourth consecutive quarter in which comparable sales have fallen.