From FORBES.COM / June 30, 2009
#10 : BARCELONA
With its Gaudi architecture, contemporary furniture community and penchant for quirky boutiques like Private Bazaar--in which fashion public relations agency XXL has put its press samples from designers like Stella McCartney and Tom Ford up for sale--the capital of Catalonia is a mix of old-world design and modern fashion.
#9 : SAN FRANCISCO
When it comes to fashion, San Francisco's biggest asset may be its breadth of second-hand and vintage boutiques. Shoppers will often find hand-me-down Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and St. John pieces in the thrift stores on Fillmore in the tony area of Pacific Heights. But product design is what really puts the Bay Area on the style map. It is, of course, home to Apple, a leader in the industrial design community.
#8 : MADRID
The capital of Spain possesses a mountain of historic architecture, from the Royal Palace of Madrid to the National Library to the Teatro Real opera house. The city also hosts its own Fashion Week, featuring designers like Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, best known internationally for her colorful home and accessory collections.
#7 : TOKYO
The fashion designers who emerged out of Japan in the 1980s--including Comme des Garçons' Rei Kawakubu, Issey Miyake and Yoji Yamamoto--made Tokyo the fashion capital of the East. Today, it's the city's street fashion that's truly influential. Teenagers dress up in all sorts of dramatic garb, with styles including Kawaii, Lolita fashion and Cosplay, which means wearing costumes that emulate movie or manga characters.
#6 : LOS ANGELES
While L.A. is better-known for bleached blondes and bottled tans, a few serious fashion brands have emerged from the city over the last few years, including Rodarte--whose designers won this year's Council of Fashion Designers of America's Womenswear Designer of the Year award--and Band of Outsiders, designed by L.A.-based designer Scott Sternberg, who won this year's CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year award. What's more, the city houses quite a bit of modern architecture, including homes by Frank Lloyd Wright and Joseph Eichler.
#5 : ROME
For those interested in garden design and architecture, there may be no place like Rome. Landscaped gardens include Villa Borghese, fashioned in the English manor style. Building architecture that ranges from medieval to baroque to neoclassic in its design. And the city's cinematic history--particularly the movies of Federico Fellini--continue to influence fashion. Designers from New York to Milan reference Fellini's 1960 classic La Dolce Vita whenever a voluptuous blonde slips into a fitted, strapless dress.
#4 : LONDON
From mods on Carnaby Street dressed in mini skirts and gogo boots in the 1960s to the skinny-jean scenesters who flock to the city's East End today, street fashion has always been a major strength for London. There's also the high level of talent emerging out of its most famous fashion school, Central Saint Martins, each spring. Past graduates include fashion favorites Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney as well as buzz-worthy newcomers like Gareth Pugh and Christopher Kane. London is also known for its fantastic high-street (or affordable) stores such as current favorite Topshop, which recently opened up an outpost in New York.
#3 : NEW YORK
Sure, it's got Fifth Avenue for luxury shopping, the Lower East Side for insider boutiques and gentrified Brooklyn for everything from sustainable furniture to affordable vintage, but what really makes New York stylish is its designers, artists and curators. From Brooklyn-based fashion designer Maria Cornejo--a favorite of first lady Michelle Obama--to photographer Ryan McGinley, whose images grace gallery walls and magazine pages, the city's artistic dwellers have global influence. New York, like its residents--including as varied style stars as Chloe Sevigny, Anna Wintour and Calvin Klein--is just cool.
#2 : MILAN
In fashion circles, Milan is thought of as the flashy city, where gold jewelry, tanned skin and bright colors rule. That may be true at shows put on by designers like Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace and Moschino, but the city is also revered for its contemporary design scene. The annual Milan Furniture Fair features work from well-regarded design firms, like Established and Sons, and lighting companies, such as Artemide.
#1 : PARIS
It's the home of haute couture, New Wave filmmaker Jean Luc-Godard and the reason millions of people have read French Women Don't Get Fat. Paris epitomizes chic, whether that's Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, Catherine Deneuve in Belle du Jour or Jean Seberg in Breathless. It's where luxury labels like Chanel and Hermès blossomed. Today, the city draws fashionable tourists with groundbreaking concept stores, like Colette, as well as the allure of some of its new stars, including Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of style icon Jane Birkin and musician Serge Gainsbourg. Parisian designer Isabel Marant's shop is a must-visit for those looking to capture a bit of the city's je ne sais quoi.
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