London Fashion Week Given A Leg Up By ‘America’s Next Top Model’
By: Heide Winkenwerder

LOS ANGELES, Dec 7, 2005/ FW/ --- What a difference a very popular television series can do! London is now on the mind of young girls as the place to be for fashion as the season finale of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ happened in London.

In a runway presentation for Nargess Gharani and Vanya Štrok designing under the label Gharani Štrok, two of the finalists for ANTM and the last two winners strutted the catwalk for the benefit of the judges and of course millions of TV viewers here in the U.S.

Of course, for those who follow the show, the final half of the original 13 contestants went to London and worked with designers there, from photo shoots to ‘go sees.’

With ANTM as the highest rated show for the 15 – 35 female audience for UPN, the advertising for London, and of course, eventually London-based designers cannot be measured in terms of dollars.

Being home to two of the judges, Twiggy and Nigel Barker, London is a logical choice for Cycle 5’s finale, especially that it is only city that has not been featured among the four international fashion capitals that include New York, Milan and Paris.

As the Fall 2006 womenswear season looms on the horizon, the extra publicity about London will hopefully help the city get more attention from fashionistas, and in turn create the heat that its three sister cities enjoy.