Top 10 North American fashion capitals? (mens, women, product, Walmart)
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Exactly. Too many people focus on where the flashy/tacky people have money to spend on generic designer brands to show off to their friends.
A fashion capital should be a city that truly sets trends, or at least has people in the city with their own unique styles and trends. That is very few cities in North America. However, I'll take a shot at it.
1. NYC. Very obvious reasons why. Yes the aforementioned flashy/tacky people exist, but the on-the-ground styles are prominent and unique and people replicate the style.
2. LA. Same as NYC.
3. Miami. The top for warm-weather fashion.
Those are the undisputed top three. The rest of the list gets murkier, but here goes.
4. Mexico City. It's the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. A lot of Spanish media and business is based out of DF. Its influence is similar to that of NYC, but obviously on a smaller scale.
5. Atlanta. Its influence on the hip-hop and AA communities is undeniable, and rappers dropping the latest fashion trends into their music can make or break a company sometimes.
6. I have no basis for this, but I'd assume either Toronto or Montreal set the fashion trends for their respective county entirely. Maybe so, maybe not. But I'm putting it here because my guess is one of the two influences fashion for an entire country, however sparsely populated it may be. 7. Chicago. Say what you want about "Midwest fashion," but there is no denying that Chicago is the capital of the Midwest. People from all over the Midwest, and beyond, move to Chicago with their own styles. Many adopt a style in Chicago that they may bring back with them when they move home to their other Midwestern state. Whether or not what Chicago wears is "trendy," its influence over the entire Midwest cannot be denied in terms of importance in setting a trend. Also, along with NYC and Atlanta, it is a hub of AA and hip-hop culture, though far less so today in the media, but still on the ground.
8. Seattle. I'm really digging low now. The PNW has a specific style. It might not be "stylish" to most people (including myself), but it is, in fact, "a style." As the largest city of the PNW and the home of grunge (whose style is coming back/has been back), it has at least some influence.
9. Honolulu. Hold up. Let me explain. I promise I have a reason. Surf culture is so massive in Hawaii. The brands, the slang, the lifestyle. It might not be widespread in most of the country, but if a surf culture and style came from somewhere, it would have to be Hawaii. CA may have adopted it on a bigger scale, but a lot of it is from Hawaii and Honolulu. And, total wild guess here, but could its relations with East Asia have led to Asian influences as well? I really don't know. Just a guess.
10. Really grasping at straws here. Southern college towns. They truly have perfected the "young white dad" look lol
Actually, St. Louis had the 2nd largest garment district in the country (after NYC) for a very long time. Many of the large shoe manufacturers are still located in St. Louis today, most notably Brown Shoe Company, Washington Avenue is the old garment district and was the home to the largest concentration of shoe companies in the world at one point. So I wouldn't say Chicago is the undisputed Midwest hub for fashion, many of those generic Heartland styles were created right in St. Louis.
Actually, St. Louis had the 2nd largest garment district in the country (after NYC) for a very long time. Many of the large shoe manufacturers are still located in St. Louis today, most notably Brown Shoe Company, Washington Avenue is the old garment district and was the home to the largest concentration of shoe companies in the world at one point. So I wouldn't say Chicago is the undisputed Midwest hub for fashion, many of those generic Heartland styles were created right in St. Louis.
Having a garment district doesn't mean much for what "Fashion capital" means IMO. In this case, I can say some random regions of Turkey (not in Istanbul) are fashion capitals because they produce a ton of the designer clothing for fashion houses.
Chicago is easily the "fashion capital" of the midwest and it's not that close.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Couple of more criteria questions:
Would we define a fashion city as one where people go out of their way to impress and dress up?...in that case, should Las Vegas be added to the list, even though most of those dressing up are visiting ?
Does presence of exclusive high end fashion brand boutiques constitute a city as a fashion capital?...in other words, do we trust high end luxury and fashionable brands such as Kiton, Brioni and Berluti’s judgment of what they consider constitutes fashion capitals based on the limited number of cities they have chosen to open exclusive boutiques carrying their brands only ?? (I am NOT including limited, smaller selections from these brands, and others, carried at department stores in many more cities—talking cities with stand alone boutiques only).
Last edited by elchevere; 02-16-2019 at 11:49 AM..
NYC is trend setting for the world as is la. NYC is 1 or 2 on any top fashion city in world rating right there with Paris, Milan, London. La is usually top 10.
Agreed, NYC has a global impact when it comes to fashion. LA I would also consider a global impact, just on a much lesser scale than the big 4 you mentioned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elchevere
Couple of more criteria questions:
Would we define a fashion city as one where people go out of their way to impress and dress up?...in that case, should Las Vegas be added to the list, even though most of those dressing up are visiting ?
Does presence of exclusive high end fashion brand boutiques constitute a city as a fashion capital?...in other words, do we trust high end luxury and fashionable brands such as Kiton, Brioni and Berluti’s judgment of what they consider constitutes fashion capitals based on the limited number of cities they have chosen to open exclusive boutiques carrying their brands only ?? (I am NOT including limited, smaller selections from these brands, and others, carried at department stores in many more cities—talking cities with stand alone boutiques only).
My take on what generally constitutes a fashion capital...
1. The city / region has a major influence on global fashion trends, including design, production and the retail aspect.
2. Hosting major fashion and media events that pave the road for the next season and wave of fashion.
3. Fashion capitals have a large mix of business, artistic, entertainment, cultural and leisure activities and are internationally recognized for mentioned criteria.
4. Fashion capitals are also a part of the larger design scene. They area generally home to design schools, fashion magazines and a maintain a local market of affluent and fashion forward / conscious people.
To answer your specific question, I do think the presence of exclusive boutiques and retailers certainly plays into the wealth and interest in high fashion in said city. Does that make that city a fashion capital?, no, fashion forward?, yes.
Obviously New York is unquestioned followed by LA.
All other American cities are murky (in my opinion), there are elements of it in certain major American cities (Miami, Vegas, Dallas), but for Western nations, America is not a standout in fashion outside of pockets like NYC and LA.
Agreed, NYC has a global impact when it comes to fashion. LA I would also consider a global impact, just on a much lesser scale than the big 4 you mentioned.
My take on what generally constitutes a fashion capital...
1. The city / region has a major influence on global fashion trends, including design, production and the retail aspect.
2. Hosting major fashion and media events that pave the road for the next season and wave of fashion.
3. Fashion capitals have a large mix of business, artistic, entertainment, cultural and leisure activities and are internationally recognized for mentioned criteria.
4. Fashion capitals are also a part of the larger design scene. They area generally home to design schools, fashion magazines and a maintain a local market of affluent and fashion forward / conscious people.
To answer your specific question, I do think the presence of exclusive boutiques and retailers certainly plays into the wealth and interest in high fashion in said city. Does that make that city a fashion capital?, no, fashion forward?, yes.
Obviously New York is unquestioned followed by LA.
All other American cities are murky (in my opinion), there are elements of it in certain major American cities (Miami, Vegas, Dallas), but for Western nations, America is not a standout in fashion outside of pockets like NYC and LA.
I agree with this mostly. Though I have no idea how you would mention Dallas before a city like Chicago or even San Francisco for fashion. Dallas has the high end boutiques, but so does every other major place whether it's Boston, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. Mostly all major cities in the US have pockets of fashion forwardness, but there are some cities worth mentioning before others on that topic.
I agree with this mostly. Though I have no idea how you would mention Dallas before a city like Chicago or even San Francisco for fashion. Dallas has the high end boutiques, but so does every other major place whether it's Boston, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, etc. Mostly all major cities in the US have pockets of fashion forwardness, but there are some cities worth mentioning before others on that topic.
I wasn't purposely excluding those cities. Dallas just popped into my head before Chicago.
but Montreal could easily be next, it’s big there has been for many decades,
most on here are americans and win’t be aware of Montreals presence in the industry,
mostly jewish run, just like in NYC.
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