Vektor from Berlin, House of Cannon from Australia, Raissa & Vanessa from
Istanbul and Two Legged Creatures from Amsterdam. Their names are not
likely to be familiar, but they are all on-schedule, bonafide catwalk
designers who show their seasonal collections in their country’s local
fashion weeks, far away from London, Paris, New York, and Milan.
Countless of fashion weeks are being organised around the globe, from
Amsterdam to Lakme in Mumbai, not to mention New Zealand, Buenos Aires,
Riyadh, Warsaw, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Pakistan, Los Angeles and Lagos to
name but a few. The only difference between these and those in the four
major fashion capitals, is that they receive little or no international
press coverage.
92 designers showcased their collections at Lakme Fashion Week in India
last week. Compare this to the 51 on-schedule designers at London Fashion
Week. At Copenhagen’s Fashion Week, which took place earlier this month, 29
designers took to the catwalk, along with two trade fair destinations and
an array of on and off-schedule events. Both bring millions of euros of
income to their respective cities and countries, but little resonates with
the fashion elite.
In Denmark, Copenhagen’s fashion export business is worth a staggering 22.9
billion DKK, or 3 billion euros. That doesn’t account for its domestic
market, which together totals over 40 billion DKK, 5.37 billion euros. The
country’s major export markets are Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Arguably countries also off the main fashion grid.
The fashion grid, or precisely the fashion we identify as the luxury
industry, hails from Europe: or to be exact Paris, Milan and London.
Antwerp and Arnhem may be cities noted for their brilliant fashion
institutions, but young graduates are quick to intern at the major fashion
houses in one of the aforementioned capitals.
Why? Because a fashion capital is a city which has a major influence on
international fashion trends and in which the design and events such as
fashion weeks, awards and trade fairs generate significant economic output.
This output is what drives the industry.
Historically, the fashion capitals were elsewhere. During the Renaissance
era, it was Florence, Milan, Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Venice, the cultural
powerhouses of the time. Progressing into the late 16th century, London
became a major city in European fashion. Similarly, due to the power of
Spain during this period, the Spanish court started to influence fashion,
in turn making it a major centre. In the 17th century Paris established
itself as Europe’s main fashion centre. Since then, little appears to have
changed.
Interestingly, an annual ranking of the leading fashion capitals produced
by Global Language Monitor, a US-based company that tracks trends through
language use worldwide, saw Copenhagen as the leading fashion capital of
the world. In recent times, 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. This is why local fashion weeks are
integral to communities and industry as whole, even if their platforms are
smaller or create less reverb.
China, Bangladesh, India, Turkey and Vietnam are the top five garment
manufacturing nations in the world. It is likely that 75 percent of your
wardrobe originates from one of these countries. But little is known about
its local designers, many whom are talented and could possibly have had a
hand in creating the garment you are wearing now.
The fact is, young people who dream of becoming a designer, opt to study in
Paris, New York, London or Milan, because that is where they get recognised
and can gain a foothold in the industry. They are not likely to become
household names by studying at the local comprehensive or getting an
internship at a factory. Neither is a young designer on-schedule in Mumbai
or Kiev going to make huge waves across the industry.
But, with e-commerce and social media, there is thankfully some movement
away from traditional fashion cities, showing us there is plenty of
creativity, talent and worthwhile fashion to be considered from all over
the world. Even if the rest of the world’s column inches fail to mention
them.
Photo credit: Amsterdam, Berlin, Lakme Fashion Weeks, Source:
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