Austin, Texas. July 15, 2008, MetaNewsWire — The Top Fashion Cities of 2007 have been named by the Global Language Monitor in its annual global survey. Topping the list for 2008 are New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, Las Vegas, Berlin and Tokyo. Madrid (No. 15), Stockholm (No. 20), Cape Town (No. 23) and New Delhi (No. 24) broke into the Top 25. Falling off the list were Sao Paolo and Bangkok.

Other notable movement included Sydney moving up five spots to No.7 and Dubai jumping up twelve spots to No.12.

“Our yearly rankings clearly reinforce recent trends: the Big Five (New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, and London), far and away dominate the world of fashion, especially in the eyes of the print and electronic media, as well as on the internet. At the same time, the second tier of the cities in the world fashion rankings are coming on strong,” said Millie Lorenzo Payack, Fashion Correspondent and Director of the Global Language Monitor. “And, by the way, money spent on media outreach can, indeed, make a difference; witness Dubai.” The world ‘rag’ business is estimated to be close to one half trillion USD. Regional rankings are provided below.

This exclusive ranking is based upon GLM’s Predictive Quantities Index, a proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere. The words and phrases are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets.

The Top Fashion Cities, 2008 ranking, last year’s rank, and commentary follow.

1. New York (1) – No. 1 for the fifth year running.
2. Rome (2) – The Eternal City, again, a strong No. 2.
3. Paris (3) – Perhaps No. 1 in the world’s hearts and mind – but not the media’s.
4. Milan (5) – Overtakes London in this survey.
5. London (4) – The Elite Five far outdistance the rest.
6. Los Angeles (6) – LA knocks on the door of the Elite Five.
7. Sydney (12) – Sydney makes a huge move, breaking into the Top 10.
8. Las Vegas (9) – The intense media spotlight improves Vegas’ ranking.
9. Berlin (11) – Berlin continues its very strong presence.
10. Tokyo (6) – Tokyo remains the capital of the Asian Fashion Industry.
11. Hong Kong (8) – Threatening to move ahead of Tokyo.
12. Dubai (24) – Massive marketing fueled by petrodollars can make an impact.
13. Shanghai (14) – Vies with Hong Kong for the lead in China.
14. Singapore (10) – Significant fashion infrastructure keeps its ranking strong.
15. Madrid (New) – Reasserts the Iberian fashion lead over Barcelona.
16. Moscow (16) – Firmly ensconces itself in the Top Twenty.
17. Santiago (19) – Leads Latin America.
18. Melbourne (15) – Take a second seat to a high-flying Sydney.
19. Stockholm (New) – First Scandinavian on the list.
20. Buenos Aires (22) – Traditional leader in fashion continues to move up the rankings.
21. Johannesburg (23) – Joburg improves two spots.
22. Mumbai (18) – Mumbai again leads the Subcontinent.
23. Cape Town (New) – Joburg’s rival is new to the list.
24. New Delhi (New) – New Delhi makes the List, but still is outpaced by Bollywood.
25. Barcelona (13) – Still in the Top Twenty-five though Madrid has strong lead.
26. Miami (New) – Makes the list on its leadership in swimwear.
27. Krakow (25) – Shares the neo-Bohemian spotlight with Prague.
28. Prague (New) – No neo about this rising center of fashion.
29. Toronto (New) — First Canadian city on the list; Montreal just missed the rankings.
30. Rio de Janeiro (20) – Strong Latin American No. 3 outpacing Sao Paolo.

Others in the rankings included Copenhagen, Montreal, Sao Paolo, and Bangkok

Regional Rankings:

Asia and Oceania: Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Melbourne (Bangkok)

Europe: Rome, Paris, Milano, London, Berlin, Madrid, Stockholm, Barcelona (Copenhagen)

India: Mumbai, New Delhi

Latin America: Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro (Sao Paolo)

Middle and Eastern Europe: Moscow, Krakow, Prague

Middle East and Africa: Dubai, Johannesburg, Cape Town

North America: New York, LA, Las Vegas, Miami, Toronto (Montreal)

There’s intrigue behind the scenes of some Miami Beach fashion events these days, and it has nothing to do with the parade of fresh-faced, leggy models on the catwalk.

Two competing, simultaneous fashion shows — Funkshion Fashion Week Miami and Rock Fashion Week — feature tented runway shows, fall/winter ‘09 collections and free tickets.

Rock’s very existence is a slap in the face, says the founder of Funkshion. Adding insult to injury, headline designers Russell Simmons and Richie Rich have jumped to the upstart show.

Funkshion owner Sale Stojanovic is crying foul.

He accuses Scott Rosenblum, a former business associate and the owner of the new Rock Fashion Week, of stealing Funkshion’s thunder — and at least one marquee designer — by erroneously portraying himself as Funkshion’s partner. Stojanovic had an attorney send Rosenblum a letter alleging Funkshion trademark infringement, among other things.

”I’m afraid at the end of the day we’re going to have to sue this guy,” Stojanovic said. “He crossed every single line he could.”

Funkshion Fashion Week Miami Beach is being held in its usual location, in tents on the sand at Ocean Drive at 11th Street. Rock Fashion Week is unfolding at the newly opened Fontainebleau Resort. Both events started Wednesday and run through Saturday.

Rosenblum denied the accusations. He said he once had a ”partnership” with Funkshion, although he provided no documentation to support that claim.

”We have never used Funkshion to promote Rock Fashion Week,” Rosenblum said in a phone interview Wednesday.

One point of contention is how Rock landed headliner designer Richie Rich, a Funkshion participant since 2006. His collections, which veer toward the satirical and tend to be crowd pleasers, use to win media attention for Funkshion.

Rich, reached by phone Thursday at the Fontainebleau, said Rosenblum is a friend and asked him to join the Rock event a few months ago.

”I’ve known Scott for a long time and the Fontainebleau was very alluring,” said Rich, who lives in Manhattan.

But Rich also said he was confused about Rock’s relationship to Funkshion.

”I didn’t understand that Funkshion was still happening,” Rich said. “I didn’t know they were competing against each other. But I’m a fan of all of them. I really didn’t understand the situation until I got here.”

FUNKSHION’S START

Funkshion began in 2003 and has grown into a series of biannual fashion shows. In early years, clothing lines by such notables as Nicole Miller, Betsey Johnson and Vivienne Westwood were featured although the designers themselves rarely showed up.

Over the years, the number of boldface designers plummeted. With the defection of Simmons and Rich, Funkshion has been left without a single nationally recognized designer to promote.

Stojanovic said that a few years ago, Rosenblum contacted him to help promote Funkshion. He brought a few designers to the table, including True Religion, Stojanovic said, but never was there a partnership.

Until a few months ago, it seems they were on good terms. Both said it was Rosenblum who suggested Funkshion move to the Fontainebleau but that it was Stojanovic who decided logistics were impossible.

ON HIS OWN

Rosenblum said that’s when he decided to branch out on his own, choosing the same week as Funkshion to capitalize on Winter Music Conference crowds.

”Funkshion and Rock were formerly working together on an event and when that broke down, the very next day, that was it,” said Rosenblum, who lives mainly in Atlanta.

Rosenblum said he had had photos from Funkshion shows on his website (rockprmedia.com) but that he had removed them. However, at the time of the interview, his website was still touting an alliance with his competitor.

”Below is a list of Rock Media’s proprietary & partnership events,” read Rosenblum’s site. It cited ”Funkshion: Fashion Week Miami Beach (March, October)” and three other Funkshion events.

By Thursday, those references had been removed.

Rosenblum also has a gripe. He cited another website — rockfashionweek.com — that takes viewers directly to Funkshion’s website, funkshion.com.

”Our company’s an upstanding company,” Rosenblum said. “If you check the records, we don’t have one complaint.”

Records show there have been five liens or judgments rendered against Rosenblum, the largest of which was issued in July 2008 by the New York City Supreme Court for $125,113.

Rosenblum said that case and others were ”nothing I’ve been served with.” He added: “This is a great event and people should be focused on it.”

Stojanovic said that Rosenblum’s ”lies” have cost him investors.

”You’re trying to build something for so long and then somebody comes . . .” he said, trailing off.