La Fashion Week (document en anglais)

Fashion weeks go global

Milan ,London ,New York ,Paris … and Lagos? A host of new fashion weeks, from Russia to Indonesia, are vying to compete with the traditional style capitals

You've got Milan, London, New York and Paris. Why not Lagos?" said Penny McDonald, organiser of the Arise Africa fashion week. . The event, in its third year, attracted global media interest, with supermodel Alek Wek appearing on the catwalk. but it is just one of the "fashion weeks" vying to compete with the traditional fashion capitals that hold their shows twice a year. Sao Paulo fashion week began in 1996, New Zealand started its in 2001. There are fashion weeks in Russia, Iceland, India, Mexico, Israel and Indonesia, to name a few.

Some are fairly small scale operations attracting a handful of local designers; others have corporate sponsors and cost millions. Mercedes-Benz – which sponsors New York fashion week – also sponsors weeks in Tokyo, Berlin and Miami. The fashion shows in Russia have attracted better-known (in the west, at least) designers such as Mark Fast and David Koma; Madrid fashion week pays its models more than London does, and has become a rival in terms of the models it attracts; Pakistan's fashion week has been covered by the New York Times and British Vogue – but can any of these weeks really become a fixture alongside the main four?

"Paris, Milan, New York and London will always remain the king-pins of the fashion show season," says Harriet Quick, fashion features director of Vogue. These new shows, she says, "exist as a flag-waving event to bring attention to the country, but a fashion show is about selling clothes. Where fashion weeks might succeed is to develop taste and boost sales in emerging markets, or in niche offerings." She points to the swimwear shows in Brazil, as an example. Does she go to any of these other fashion weeks? "No, I don't have time," she says, though she adds that she does often look at what is happening at them.

Some are more optimistic about other cities' influence. "There is an interest in upstarts and outsiders, and a more fragmented marketplace," says Alexandra Smith, trends analyst at Mintel. "Fashion has traditionally been a closed space, but now we're seeing bloggers having more of a role and they are invited to shows. It indicates there is a general interest in bringing freshness and diversity – not only in voices, but in the designers and locations." Lagos may be in with a chance yet.

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