Beyond Paris And Milan

In Shanghai, the government recently introduced a local Fashion Week in an effort to promote local labels and attract designers from abroad. "When you get into the back of a taxi in Shanghai there are videos showing backstage parties from Fashion Week, and you just get a real sense of a fashion city coming through," says WGSN's Bishop. Indeed, the historic Bund is now home to a number of air-conditioned malls, where luxury brands and independent labels compete for floor space. Chang Le Road and Taikang Road, a narrow tree-lined lane, are sprinkled with trendy boutiques like La Vie, owned by local designer Jenny Ji, who mixes traditional Chinese prints with modern silhouettes. "In recent years Chinese designers have attracted more and more attention overseas, and now about 60 percent of people who come to my boutique are foreigners," says Ji. Shanghai-based designer Lu Kun, whose dresses will be showcased next year in an exhibition of Chinese designers at London's Victoria & Albert Museum, thinks Shanghainese have a sense of taste and style to rival Parisians. "Shanghai has a huge potential to become the new fashion capital in Asia," he says.

Chicago has also been very proactive in promoting itself as a fashion city. Last year Mayor Richard Daley set up a council to advise on everything from marketing to helping young fashion graduates set up business. In October, the city will host its third Fashion Focus Chicago, a weeklong program of fashion shows, seminars and shopping excursions to some of the city's best boutiques. "I really feel like shopping in Chicago rivals what they have in Paris," says Lance Lawson, co-owner of the boutique Jake, which has three stores in the region and is a favorite stopover for celebs like Jessica Simpson and Kanye West. Boutique owners also tend to support one another—important in a city that is very neighborhood-oriented. "There is a feeling that helping promote not just your boutique but others in your area is good for everyone," says Sarah Blessing, co-owner with her sister of the men's boutique Apartment Number 9.

In Antwerp, too, there is a real sense of community among designers. The city has a small but fantastic fashion museum, Momu; the Flanders Fashion Institute (FFI), set up to promote the city's shops and designers, puts out an annual Antwerp Fashion Walk book focusing on the five main shopping districts. With input from FFI, the city has made it easier for neophyte designers to set up shop—something they could never do in the expensive and competitive markets of Paris, New York, London or Milan. In the Nationalestraat district, established flagship shops like Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester sit beside those of lesser-known designers like academy graduates Haider Ackerman and Violetta and Vera Pepa. They aspire to become not the next Van Noten but the next Van Steenbergen.

With Jessica Au

© 2007