V Magazine Goes New York by Mario Testino

Fashion Districts 101: from New York to Naples

It is that exciting time of year again for the next edition of Uomo Moda, the 1st and only menswear magazine in Egypt. Since the Spring Edition has met with such wide acclaim, I thought I would give you a sneak preview to the Summer Edition. The following article is entitled, Fashion Districts 101: from New York to Naples:

In last year’s summer issue, I briefly described the history of fashion in Istanbul, which dates back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. Today, Istanbul has grown into a shopper’s paradise brimming with bazaars, covered markets, and award-winning shopping malls.

Nevertheless, these types of commercial centers differ radically from the three major fashion districts in Istanbul; namely, Merter, Osmanbey, and Laleli, which team with fashion houses, showrooms, and garment manufacturers.

Hence, the question arises: “Just what is the fundamental difference between fashion districts and fashion or shopping centers?

To most individuals, a fashion district denotes some sort of urban shopping destination, consisting of designer boutiques, prestigious labels, and haut couture. But a fashion district is not merely a major souk or commercial quarter but rather a specific kind of industrial district.

Categorized as such, fashion districts can be defined as a conglomeration of companies specializing in textile and garment production within the same geographic area, wherein there exists a measure of interdependence and competition.

As will be seen, fashion districts come in all shapes and sizes, each presenting a different history, infrastructure, network of interrelationships, and current setting.

New York City
One of the most famed fashion districts in the world is the Garment District of New York City, which is situated between Fifth and Ninth Avenues from 34th to 42nd Streets, occupying nearly one square mile.

Also known as the Garment Center and the Fashion Center, New York’s fashion district has played a central role in US textile manufacturing and fashion design since the late 1800’s, at which time the driving force of the local industry was a diversified immigrant population.

By the turn of the 19th century, New York was already out-producing every urban rival. Moreover, the city’s garment industry had surpassed all other industries, becoming a center of fashion that set new trends and ever-changing styles.

Although fabric and accessory shops still abound in the Big Apple, most clothing manufacturers have abandoned the island, leaving New York one of the top fashion capitals in the world. The fashion industry is the second largest industry, as well as home to the headquarters of nearly 1,000 fashion companies.

Generating approximately $10 billion in wages, New York City has emerged as a worldwide destination for upscale shopping districts with numerous flagship stores, such as Puma, Benetton, and Dolce & Gabbana.

London
London is a city known for fashion streets, particularly menswear streets. While Savile Row is often associated with fine suits, Jermyn Street is synonymous with shirt making and gentleman’s apparel.

Located in Mayfair of Central London, Savile Row is not only renowned for “bespoke tailoring,” but it is also reputed as the birthplace of the term, which denotes ‘custom-made clothing’.

Built between 1731 and 1735, Savile Row began attracting tailors in the 1800’s due to George Bryan “Beau” Brummell, who popularized the modern-day suit and tie into an image called “the dandy.” Beau, the model dandy, was noted for his impeccably fitted apparel.

Located in Westminster of Central London, Jermyn Street dates back to about 1664 and is celebrated for gentleman fashion, particularly fine shirts.

Naples
Contrary to much popular opinion, Naples and its surrounding towns have been a main fashion hub in Italy for generations, boasting a vibrant garment production industry since WWII.
In 1999, local artisans passed the baton to CIS di Nola, which has become one of the largest fashion districts in Europe—a showcase of 300 companies that unites nearly 1,000.

At CIS di Nola, one may not find the classy upscale showrooms of Dolce & Gabbana or Valentino but the eight islands brim with numerous local labels like my all-time favorite—Primo Emporio.

Besides onsite sales and distribution, CIS di Nola organizes international road shows, such as the recent “CIS Business Tour for Lebanon”—a business-to-business event that took place 11-14 April 2010.

Photo top right Francesco in Istanbul Copyright Men's Fashion by Francesco.
Photo top left United Colors of Benetton on 5th Avenue, New York, Copyright Benetton.
Photo bottom right Beau Brummell by Herr uebermann, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Photo bottom left CIS di Nola Copyright CIS.

Tales Of London: Part 3: TOPSHOP TAKES MANHATTAN!

Fueled by my Topshop high, especially after a trip to the Oxford Circus flagship location -- an exhaustive, cavernous 100,000-square-foot fashion emporium (this location alone pulls in

$292 million a year) that features three floors, 200 changing rooms, a hair salon, nail parlor, eyebrow bar, make-up stations, personal style consultants who will deliver your goods to you via SCOOTER and an entire section devoted to CANDY! -- I returned to Amurica more excited than ever (especially after the dollar is worth about as much as a Chuck E Cheese token over there) for Topshop to arrive stateside. As it turns out, my superficial prayers have been answered, because...

TOPSHOP IS COMING TO NEW YORK IN SEPTEMBER 2008!

Drapers confirmed it in November 2007, as did WWD, but those bastards make you pay to play. Good think the awesome Racked scooped it back in October 2007, complete with location, photos and all!

The premiere USA Topshop will be located at:

478 Broadway near Broome Street in Soho

That's currently the site (see my helpful Google map below!) of the dreadful Yellow Rat Bastard, and while it's sorta sad to see another Soho staple go (like when Canal Jeans because Bloomingdales [Co-op]), let's be honest -- Soho isn't even a shell of its former self, AND, hello IT'S GONNA BE A FUCKING TOPSHOP! And, while the two H&Ms (I wonder how they'll fare as a result of the Topshop traffic -- will they benefit from the predictable spillover, or will there be Topshop-induced tumbleweeds a-blowin'?), Muji, Bloomie's, CB2, et al have made navigating Broadway del Sur an Inferno-esque nightmare, I again refer back to my original point: TOPSHOP IS COMING TO NEW YORK!

View Larger Map


Anyway...

Hundreds of fashionistas lined up outside Barneys just to get their hands on Kate Moss' capsule pieces last year. And recall the veritable affordable-fashion riots that H&M's New York arrival generated. (Think Beatlemania, except instead of 1964, it's 2008, and instead of the Beatles coming down off the plane onto the Tarmac, imagine super cute $16.90 graphic print dresses and $48 skinny jeans! Yay! Then imagine people getting trampled to death! Boo. ) I can only imagine the scene the opening of Topshop -- by the way, they say September, and even though construction has already begun, who knows if the schedule will hold up, though if I were Sir Phillip Green, I'd be rarin' to get this puppy off the ground. And if this article, which details how the Oxford Circus location prepared for its biggest shopping day of the year, is any indication of how the Big Reveal will be handled, I'm sure the kids will have it on lockdown. Which doesn't mean I won't skip the opening ceremonies (unless I get a personal invite of course, which, if you're reading, Topshop PR peeps, I would GRACIOUSLY accept!) and wait until the 11th hour of the following Tuesday night before I hit it up. But only because I fear for my personal safety.

More Topshop love and linkage:
+ June 2006: The Times treads cautiously. (Fuck 'em! I'll skip 'em in line!)
+ May 2007:The Independent takes a look at Topshop's ascent to retail victory.
+ September 2007: The New Zealand Herald explores how totes good marketing turned the once cheesy chain into a fashion giant.

And finally, Catwalkqueen reveals Topshop's Spring 2008 designer collabos: Jonathan Saunders and Louise Goldin. Coming later this month, Christopher Kane, which should beat the high-waisted pants off Kate Moss' rather "meh" collection. Now, hurry the hell up, Topshop, and expatriate already!!!!

Roberto Cavalli For H&M: PANDEMONIUM AND PANIC In NYC

(Photo via FabSugar)

I'm not a morning person in any way shape or form, whatsoever. Ever-ever ever. So not even 18 alarm clocks, my cat walking across my face and a pack of wild horses could rouse me at the ungodly hour of whatever time I'd have had to have gotten up to make it to the 8AM press call for the launch of Roberto Cavalli for H&M at the chain's 5th Avenue flagship location here in New York.

Seriously, not even if they'd have given me a key to the store and the green light to clear the place out on their dime, I still doubt I'd have made it. And from the looks of this video footage of the mayhem of the line's launch in Amsterdam, I'm quite glad:



Doesn't this remind you of waaaay back in the day when people got trampled to death at Toys R Us trying to get their consumption-happy hot little hands on new Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls to give their bratty kids for Christmas? (My mom gave us a fake, ghetto-fab off-brand Cabbage Patch Kid, for which I thank her -- this was just the beginning of me learning the value of a good knock-off!)

Check out the rather horrifying fashionista-on-a-budget bloodbath at Style Crunch, while Catwalk Queen details the mayhem in the UK. Oy. See, I had braces for many years and value the money my parents spent on my orthodontia too much to risk getting my teeth out over a $20 serpentine bracelet:


(Which is currently going for three times its price on eBay.)

The H&M blog (what?) has lots more footage of INSANE people who got there at 7p.m. THE.FUCKING.NIGHT.BEFORE, plus pix of Cavalli himself and model Jessica Stam, who also showed up (again, exciting, but not exciting enough to merit waking up at like 5).

I think the best part of this story is the part that has nothing to do with the story -- Roberto (we're on a FNB -- first-name basis -- you know), dressed up as Karl Lagerfeld for Halloween. Ha!

Anyway, did any of you faithful F.'Bingers go?