New York - Paris, Milan, New York and London may reign in world fashion, but Asian and South American cities are ones to watch, according to an exhibition at one of the world's best design schools.
Dubbed "Around the world in 80 Items" by Style.com, the museum at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology is charting a new generation of fashion-forward cities eying global prominence.
The exhibition displays dozens of outfits and accessories ranging from a 1890 couture cape by the then-toast of Paris, Charles Frederick Worth, to a 2015 beaded dress by Nigeria's Lisa Folawiyo.
It showcases the likes of Chanel, Prada, Alexander McQueen and Ralph Lauren with emerging talent from as far afield as Antwerp, Istanbul, Kiev, Johannesburg, Mexico, Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo.
The exhibition calls itself "Global Fashion Capitals" and identifies 19 emerging cities, showcasing the work of many designers not well known or who have never shown before in the United States.
In the last 10 years, there has been an explosion in hundreds of "fashion weeks" where designers display their latest collections to attract buyers and the media in a multi-billion-dollar industry.
But if the four most important fashion destinations are Paris, New York, Milan and London, then who comes next?
"There are a lot of people vying for that fifth and sixth place," exhibition co-curator Ariele Elia told AFP.
Her picks are Sao Paulo, Seoul and Shanghai, with a special mention for newbie Istanbul, which started a fashion week in 2009.
Interest in couture in Brazil's business capital dates back to the 1950s. The city also has very strong clothing and manufacturing industries, and since the 1980s has been creating its own designs.
The exhibition's flag bearer for Brazil is Alexandre Herchcovitch, whose 2007 jumpsuit fuses tribal-style beadwork and Brazilian colours into what the exhibition calls "a contemporary silhouette."
AFP
