Global Fashion
In a world where you can follow fashion before it happens from the comfort of your living room, global trends were always bound to emerge, but as Antonia Short discovers, that doesn’t mean that our fashion capitals have lost their sense of style…
Los Angeles
You’d imagine there’d be no time, between running off slimmer shakes and egg-white omelettes, for LA style queens to change from jogging pants to ballooning ballgown for yet another display-only buffet dinner. But what’s the point in being pool-cue thin if you’re not working at least four outfits a day?
LA’s black-tie-denim-with-flip-flops garb (that post-11am-workout, shop-till-you-drop, work-if-you-have-to ensemble) is all about showing off - effortlessly.
Defiant in the midday sun, LA girls laugh at layers, sleeves and knits, lifting hems to expose bottle-brilliant tans at every opportunity.
Colour is a must. Sport drab in this city, and you’ll end up on the bull-bars of a blacked-out 4x4 before a Botox-charged angelino in even shadier glasses even blinks on the freeway.
And as bling’s reputed birthplace, LA plays host to gaudy and flashy like nowhere else, serving the whole lot up with a generous helping of West Coast insouciance. This headnod to hippier, happier days has infused the summer with floaty tops, bohemian dresses and embroidered trim as favoured by LA luvvies of the Mischa Barton/Nicole Richie ilk.
Also of the moment is nautical style. And if Chanel’s latest West Coast show is anything to go by, travel themes looks set to stay.
But if you’re going to go transatlantic, don’t go at it like Victoria Beckham, who was, according to the local press, ‘ready to fling her Chanel wallet at the model’s head just to get the first crack at Lagerfeld’s aeronautically inspired collection’. A clear sign that we Brits can adopt a bit of California cool when hanging in Hollywood with our West Coast counterparts.
Celebs to follow: Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston, Liv Tyler.
Paris
Considering Paris single-handedly saved the planet from following Royal fashion and whisked us into their 20th-century explosion of ready-to-wear and couture creations, it’s hardly surprising that today’s Parisiennes wear every ensemble with a distinctively superior je ne sais quoi. Which is why they can chug on a Gauloise, click their fingers for the bill or flick you a look of soul-crushing contempt and still leave you in awe of their sultry style.
But it’s not just confidence you’ll find lurking in a Parisienne’s wardrobe. There’s a whole drawer of French trickery too. You’ll never see a French fashionista mix - they always match. From ear-rings to underwear, co-ordination is key and perfection paramount.
Underpinning all this effortless simplicity lies precision styling. There’s a gruelling behind-the-scenes beauty and shopping routine, all geared to look as though they haven’t bothered trying.
The staple here is monochrome, classic cream and black, beautifully cut, immaculately accessorised and meticulously modelled. Beyond this, Paris’s rule of thumb is to hijack whatever’s in vogue and flirt with it. Give this summer’s neon palate - graffitied over all and sundry in every other city – to Celine, Chloe and Chanel and they’ll turn out puce-pink silk summer dresses or delicious dayglow trims - not forgetting the bag to match.
Celebs to follow: Vanessa Paradis, Audrey Tautou, Juliette Binoche and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
New York City
Creators of street-fashion, inventors of vintage chic and doyennes of snappy dressing, New Yorkers win hands down when it comes to knowing what’s cooler than cool. Take the current craze for all things shiny, metallic and sparkly. While London’s turned dominatrix and stepped out in silver-speckled spandex leggings, NYC’s looked to the stars and shimmied out to sparkle in jewel-encrusted Chrysler-esque creations that’ll take your breath away.
It’s not just street-life swag and sleek, urban, minimalist chic those uptowners do so well to steal on Manhattan island… The rest of slobbily-styled America is also allowed to visit from time to time. Not to mention the world, its mum and all those cameras. The good news is, within this global melange of awe-inspired chumps, a true New York fashionista ain’t hard to spot.
Crowning herself NYC Fashion Queen as Carrie Bradshaw in smash series ‘Sex and the City’ (with a perfume and her own budget clothing line to seal the deal), there’s no face more synonymous with Manhattan style than Sarah Jessica Parker. Her secret? That NYC city attitude.
If he’d been talking fashion when he coined the phrase ‘Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn’, Gore Vidal would have summed up NYC style to perfection.
Celebs to follow: Chloe Sevigny, Uma Thurman and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Milan
To observe some of the world’s most dedicated followers of fashion in their natural habitat, head to Milan’s chi-chiest shopping district, the Quadrilatero d’Oro, where you’ll find the archetypal Milanese style mogul festooned in fur, dripping in credit and taking her fashion oh so seriously.
Fighting it out with Paris for the accolade of best-dressed capital of the world, Milanese women always look immaculate. The difference between the Milanese and the Parisiennes is that the former like to complicate couture while the latter simplify it.
The look works best in creams and browns with subtle gold accessories. Overexpose it, and you’ve got a gold-and-leopard-print explosion that’s more at home in the middle-eastern deserts.
And while verging on vulgar is a place Italian fashion houses are often happy to linger, it’s their elegant clean-cut tailoring and simmering sexuality for which Milan is most revered.
Like the Cuban cigar, the reputation of Italian tailoring needs no preamble. Suffice to say that Milanese style owes much to the hours of hand stitching that have made it possible.
Ready-to-wear Milanese garments are equally rich in simmering sophistication. Think gloss and lux it to the max. A cream satin shirt with a soft bow for a collar, high-waist trousers with a graduated flair – these are clothes worn at the pinnacle of any London career, but not so in Milan. And if you really want to look the part, finish it off with some all-important fur, whatever the weather.
Celebs to follow: Kylie, Elizabeth Hurley, Madonna, Nicole Kidman.
London
Rimmel would have you believe it’s all about Kate Moss caked in make-up, jumping in and out of cabs with adroit ease or smashing mirrors with lesser aplomb. Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse’s round-the-clock publicists will tell you London’s style is effortless charity-shop chic. Katherine Hamnett’s creatives will wax lyrical about ethical lines being the city’s new defining trend.
Luckily London deals with misrepresentation and stereotyping in the same determined way it churns out fashion - it just keeps going regardless. Bolstered by empirical history, there’s no other city that does conviction quite like this capital. Which is exactly why it’s famous for its risk taking.
Ground breaking, gritty and undeniably eclectic, the clichés of London’s fashion past speak volumes. From the tawdriest Camden Lock street stalls to Vivienne Westwood’s rock-and-roll monarchy, London has never been anything short of fearless. And from punk to princess, English rose to rock chick, when we’re dressing for an occasion, we theatrical British know how to pull a look off.
Splashes of neon are making a hopeful appearance with glam-rock liquid latex shining a torch on that metallic theme. Embellishments have grown through embroidery and giant rhinestones, huge prints and deco florals. Autumn ready-to-wear shows predict a revival in school-uniform pleats, tailored androgyny and a frost-bitten snow white look that’s about as likely to take to the tube as Kate Moss will give up her cab.
Celebs to follow: Alison Goldfrapp, Lily Allen, Roisin Murphy, Kate Moss, Elizabeth Hurley and Amy Winehouse
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