Fashion Capitals of the World
For years there have been four major cities around the globe that can be defined as fashion capitals of the world, New York, London, Paris and `Milan. Although this is the case, throughout history, this particular list has been known to vary, as has the order in which each city is ranked. In order for a city to be known as a fashion capital the fashion industry within that particular city must hold a certain level of significance for their local economy. In other words the amount of revenue generated for that cities economy through fashion related circumstances such as fashionable events. For example fashion weeks, trade fairs and awards can ultimately boost cities annual revenue leaving a positive effect on other sectors of that local economy.
Aside from the economic effect the fashion industry of a certain city can have, one of the most important characteristics of a fashion capital is its cultural and entertainment scene. These aspects of a city hold they key to attracting tourists and consumers for their holidays and vacation varieties. A city that is generally accepted as a fashion capital of the world needs to be one of inspiration for those creative minds living and working in it. There needs to be a strong sub-culture that not only inspires fashion professionals but also the rest of the people working in that city. The city as a whole should be the ultimate object of inspiration for the professionals working there. Most cities around the world such as London, New York or Milan develop a very distinctive street style of their own that comes from their strong and vivid sub cultures.
So far throughout recent history, as I have mentioned above, the four main fashion capitals of the world include New York, London, Paris and Milan. Although this is the case, due to its varying state, this list can be extended to include certain other cities such as Tokyo or Rome. For example in 2009 Rome was placed fourth leaving London in fifth place or in 2010 Hong Kong was placed second and Milan came in at number six. It is now stated that from 2011 London has taken the title of top fashion Capital of the world. London has always had a very prominent fashion industry that supplies the world with leading trends and fashionable characteristics. This is once again due to its extremely vivid sub-cultures and strong figures in the fashion world, such as the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. New York held top spot in the ranking for five consecutive years until London reclaimed the position. It is thought that the marriage between Kate Middleton and Prince William had a large influence on this matter as Kate Middleton has attracted such vast media attention especially concerning her impeccable fashion sense and the following of people she commands. The Global language Monitor was the first media outlet to report on London taking over New York’s top spot on the list of fashion capitals of the world. The way in which they monitor these circumstances and rankings involve the GLM’s narrative tracking technology, which analyses the Internet, blogosphere, the 75,000 print and electronic media, as well as new social media sources such as Twitter and Facebook. The phrases, concepts and words are tracked in relation to their frequency and appearance in global media outlets. In this way they are able to deduce an accurate result. On the 21st of August 20011 it was announced that London and New York were followed by Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. The top ten is now known to be rounded off with Barcelona, Singapore, Tokyo and Berlin. For Singapore and Berlin, breaking into the top ten is a first.
When looking at the fashion industry within Cape Town, it is interesting as there has been a recent growth over the past five or six years that shows the progress this city has made in that regard. We hold our very own Cape Town Fashion Week at the Cape Town International Convention Centre In the very hart of Cape Town. There are so many different reports listing the top fifty fashion capitals of the world that all have varied rankings and Cape Town goes from 25 right up until 45 so it is hard to come to the right conclusion when it comes to the exact number although I have no doubt we will keep on climbing. Cape Town Fashion Week is run buy African Fashion International or AFI which was founded and operates Africa’s most anticipated fashion weeks also including Johannesburg Fashion Week and Africa fashion Week. AFI works to wards improving the African Fashion Industry in anyway they can, creating platforms for our creative fashion designers in their careers.
Hopefully due to organizations such as African Fashion International, Cape Town Fashion Designers will have greater opportunities to showcase their fashionable creations to the rest of the world, giving Cape Town the opportunity to climb further up the list of Fashion Capitals around the world.
This is just a peice I wrote for college, interesting topic.
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