New York Has Lost Its Spot as the World Fashion Capital Because of Kate Middleton

A number of confusing metrics have been recalculated and re-algorithmed (sp?) and numbers have been crunched and lo and behold, New York has lost its spot as the number one fashion city in the world -- to London. London! And it's all because of Kate Middleton's unprecedented popularity. The Global Language Monitor, a media analytics company, has bestowed the top spot on its "Global Fashion Capitals" list to London this year due to its mysterious number-crunching; the British capital is followed by New York, then Paris, Milan, L.A., and Hong Kong. Although we are Kate Middleton experts, we're not in the business of fashion writing, so bear with us.

New York was number one on the list last year, in part due to Lady Gaga, according to Global Language Monitor president Paul Payack. This year, "Kate knocked Lady Gaga out," he said.

We were skeptical of Kate Middleton's omnipotence, but Payack told us that the Duchess of Cambridge really was the deciding factor that tipped London over the edge. "If you take out references to Kate Middleton and her dress, then New York's still number one," he said. (The company analyzes concepts and keywords from electronic and print media, plus social media, to compile its data.) Another factor that helped London gain its one percent edge over New York was Alexander McQueen, even though his massively successful posthumous Met exhibit was held here, not there. Another thing to worry about (or just to know, because really, who is worried about any of this) is the momentum of Los Angeles. Payack said that "By whatever metric you measure it on -- high fashion, ready-to-wear, whatever -- L.A. is very high."

How can NYC reverse its not-very-important fashion decline? "Adopt Kate," Payack said. We're working on it.

[rgray@villagevoice.com] [@_rosiegray]

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