It would be a bit presumptuous to rule out Paris as the fashion capital of the world already, n’est-ce pas? After all, the city has been the high priestess of ``haute couture’’ since the 18th century and its ``high sewing’’ style was imitated all across Europe and even beyond.
Paris fashion has always been perceived as the launch pad for the greats of the fashion world, be it Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Miuccia Prada, Chloe, Balenciaga, Chanel or Lacroix, just to name a few. And the designs and styles coming out from here were acknowledged as `visionary, elegant and awe-inspiring’.
Yet, the impossible seems to have been happening over the last few decades, particularly when one sees that several cities have been emerging as fashion capitals all across the globe. Promoting the cultural economy of grand metropolises has resulted in substantial competition for the original haute couture capital, which seems to have lost out a bit in this race. What with the global survey of top fashion cities for 2007 putting New York and Rome ahead of Paris as the number one and number two fashion capitals of the world with London and Milan in close contention for the top spot, especially the latter. One also sees Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Las Vegas and Singapore vying for attention.
Is all this indicative of a loss of glory for the dreamy French capital? The lords of the fashion world still do make their presence felt in Paris. But high production and overhead costs in France have perhaps encouraged designers and exhibitors to look for more affordable options. In fact, these factors have even prompted the emergence of many Asian cities such as Singapore, Shanghai, Bangkok and Mumbai as regional hubs of the fashion world.
All this may not take away the myth of Paris as the fashion world’s epicenter but she definitely has a lot of company, today.
