Fashion capital

Escada Sport at Berlin Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013

A fashion capital is a city which has a major influence on international fashion trends and in which the design, production and retailing of fashion products – plus events such as fashion weeks, awards and trade fairs – generate significant economic output.

The cities considered the global "Big Four" fashion capitals of the 21st century are Milan, London, New York and Paris.^[1]

Definition of a fashion capital

A fashion capital assumes leadership role in clothing and design. In addition, fashion capitals usually have a broad mix of business, artistic, entertainment, cultural and leisure activities and are internationally recognised for having a unique and strong identity.^[2] It has also been noted that the status of a fashion capital has become increasingly linked to a city's domestic and international profile.^[3] Fashion capitals are also likely be part of a wider design scene, with design schools, fashion magazines and a local market of affluent consumers.^[3]

Since the 16th century, Milan has been regarded as the Fashion Capital of the World. Nowadays, often the term fashion capital is used to describe the cities that hold fashion weeks, most prominently Milan, Paris, London and New York,^{[4][5][6][7][8]} to showcase their industry.^[9][10] Also various other cities host notable fashion events and are influential in global fashion.^[11]

History

Historically, several cities have been, in turn, fashion capitals. During the Renaissance era, different city-states in what would become modern-day Italy were Europe's main trendsetters,^[12] due to the cultural power they exerted in that period of time; this includes cities such as Florence, Milan, Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Venice.

Progressing into the late-16th century, with influence of the English Royal Court, London became a major city in European fashion. Similarly, due to the power of Spain at the period, the Spanish court started to influence fashion, making it a major centre. In the 17th century, as the Renaissance started to fade away, with the power of the French court under Louis XIV, Paris established itself as Europe's main fashion centre.^[13]

During the 19th century, with the powerful British Empire and a young Queen Victoria on the throne (from 1837), London once again became a major fashion leader.^[14] However, it continued to look to Paris for stylistic inspiration, and the British 'father of haute couture' Charles Frederick Worth relocated to Paris in 1846 to perfect and then commercialise his craft, also holding the first fashion shows and launching the concept of fashion labels there.^[15]

20th century and beyond

New York's Garment District, 1955

During the Golden Twenties, Berlin was considered the vanguard fashion capital.^[16]

Throughout the 20th century – but particularly after World War II – New York City rose in stature as a fashion capital, challenging the dominance of Paris with a different approach, especially in its development and popularisation of sportswear as fashion during the 1940s and '50s.^[17]

During the 1950s Italy rose in prominence again.^[18] Florence re-emerged as a leading city in fashion,^[19] although focus shifted to Milan from the 1970s on as leading design houses moved to the city.^[20]

"Swinging London," Carnaby Street, c1966

In the 1980s, Tokyo claimed its place as a fashion capital with a new generation of avant-garde designers, including Issey Miyake or Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons gaining worldwide attention, even if the fashion show were all in Paris. The fashion was radically different in both its use of textiles and in the way designers cut and draped.^[21][22]

More recently, new fashion hubs have emerged worldwide, and the old order has faced challenges from all corners of the globe, including Africa, Australasia and South America.^[23] Since 2007, Berlin has again been highlighted as an increasingly important centre for global fashion trends.^[24][25]

A 2011 issue of Fashion Theory: Journal of Dress, Body and Culture explored the move away from the traditional dominance of five key cities (London, Milan, New York, Paris, Tokyo), with co-editor Lise Skov suggesting what she described as a "poly-centric" fashion industry developing in the 21st century.^[17]

A 2010 Milan Fashion Week event

Annual fashion capital rankings

An annual ranking of the leading fashion capitals is produced by Global Language Monitor, a US-based company that tracks trends through language use worldwide. The 2017 top-sixty three fashion capitals, according to its rankings, are listed below.^[26]

Current (2017)	City	Previous (2016)	Rank
1	New York City	2	1
2	Paris	1	1
3	Barcelona	7	4
4	Milan	6	2
5	Rome	5
6	London	3	3
7	Amsterdam	23	15
8	Berlin	8
9	Las Vegas	26	14
10	Dubai	17	7
11	Singapore	14	3
12	Hong Kong	12
13	Florence	11	2
14	Los Angeles	4	10
15	Madrid	9	6
16	Bali	40	24
17	Seoul	56	39
18	Prague	33	15
19	Rio de Janeiro	18	1
20	Buenos Aires	29	9
21	Washington, D.C.	54	33
22	Moscow	22
23	Tokyo	10	13
24	Santiago	43	19
25	Vienna	34	9
26	Shanghai	15	11
27	Mumbai	38	11
28	Melbourne	49	21
29	Stockholm	46	23
30	Bangkok	50	20
31	Warsaw	42	11
32	Copenhagen	36	4
33	San Francisco	37	4
34	Sydney	13	21
35	São Paulo	16	19
36	Antwerpen	25	11
37	Johannesburg	48	11
38	Dallas	20	18
39	Austin	45	6
40	Abu Dhabi	Debut
41	St Petersburg	35	6
42	Cape Town	41	1
43	Mexico City	53	10
44	Portland, Oregon	Debut
45	Frankfurt	51	6
46	Boston	24	18
47	Kuala Lumpur	Debut
48	Johannesburg	37	11
49	Monaco	21	28
50	Atlanta	47	3
51	New Delhi	39	12
52	Vancouver	52
53	Chicago, Illinois	27	26
54	Houston, Texas	30	24
55	Montreal	47	8
56	Dakar	Debut
57	Beirut	Debut
58	Kraków	44	14
59	Toronto	28	31
60	Lagos	Debut
61	Columbus	Debut
62	Accra	Debut
63	Caracas	Hiatus

See also

• Fashion week, for a partial list of cities with fashion weeks.
• Fashion tourism

References