News & Blogs: as of Friday, May 09, 2008

DALLAS, Aug 4, 2007 / FW/ — New York, Milan and Paris, the triumvirate that dominates the fashion world; each one has their own strengths, and all of them are powerhouses on their own right.

As they say in fashion, all three of them are ‘originals.’ While some places try to duplicate the buzz and the heat that each city generates, they have a hard time reproducing the excitement.

What makes these cities unique? New York in all its splendor is about commerce (different from commercialism, which truly leaves a bad taste in the mouth of a serious fashion designer), Paris is about creativity and Milan is the perfect blend of New York and Paris while it adds the Milanese twist of its fascination with fashion.

New York is the gateway to the American high fashion market, which is still one of the most lucrative in the world, defying even the downturn in the U.S. economy. The fashion shows and presentations are truly B2B, to use an internet term. The showrooms are as busy as the fashion shows, as retail buyers visit them.

Paris is the center of innovations, where new silhouettes are introduced. And, while Paris is on top when it comes to creativity, young designers find it hard to break into the commerce part of fashion, i.e., selling to a broad market.

As already mentioned, Milan is the perfect blend of the strengths of New York and Paris. But, we are talking about Milan, a city that is historically known to reinvent itself; so it reinvented the commercial aspect of New York and the creativity of Paris, making the city unique and to use the term again, ‘an original’ when it comes to fashion.

Fashion shows in Milan are big productions. Case in point, the DSquared2 shows are always hot tickets as Dean & Dan Caten recreated the Wild West, Thunderdome and the gospel on the runway.

Roberto Cavalli always has a surprise for everyone, ranging from presenting female Indiana Jones to a mystic look at the Orient.

It is not just on the runway that Milan excels. Marni, known for its whimsical clothes and accessories had taken ecommerce seriously, launching an interactive website so that its product lines can be available worldwide.

And lastly, though definitely not the least, the houses even reinvent itself, the best example is the House of Versace, wherein Donatella had truly made it her own house. No disrespect for Gianni, because he is truly a great designer and chances are the fashion world will never see the like of him ever again.

Since Donatella took the helm at Versace, she had reinvented the Versace code and its DNA, proposing an entirely new look that is totally Versace, but definitely her own style and vision. So, while the spirit of Gianni still lives, the silhouettes are new and bear Donatella’s fingerprints.

Now… how can another city duplicate those feats?