New York Fashions a New Style

New York fashion week, which kicks off properly today, has returned to the centre of the international fashion week merry-go-round of New York, London, Milan and Paris. Last year, to avoid coinciding with the first anniversary of the attacks on September 11, New York's spring/summer collections week followed London's.

The city has come a long way since the attacks and this year's fashion week reflects a determination to restore familiar patterns. But while the schedule has returned to the norm, the weeks themselves show subtle shifts.

Somewhat like the Spice Girls, the fashion weeks tend to be differentiated by handy adjectives: New York is commercial, London is experimental, Milan is the trendmaker and Paris is chic.

But just as the erstwhile Spice girls grew out of their nicknames, so too the fashion capitals seem intent on breaking out of their allotted roles.

The usually sleek and slick New York has recently become the improbable host city for the shows of London designers Matthew Williamson and Luella Bartley. Their youthful styles, full of neon colours and tongue-in-cheek sauciness, would seem to be the antithesis of New York's camel-jumper-and-black-trousers uniform. But the city has become rather fond of its cheeky Brit visitors, and what could have been an expensive mistake for Williamson and Bartley - risking the switch from being big fish in a little pond - has proven quite the success.

In part, this reflects New York's growing acceptance of younger designers, looking beyond its more established players. Zac Posen, who wasn't even alive when nothing came between Brooke Shields and her Calvins, has been hyped beyond hyperbole.

All this is largely thanks to Marc Jacobs. At 39 he is relatively mature. His main line and diffusion offshoot, Marc by Marc Jacobs, have been phenomenally successful and his shows provide gems for trendspotters and celebrity gawpers.

London is often described as the breeding ground for young designers - a euphemism for the city that designers leave when they become successful. Apart from Williamson and Bartley, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney and John Galliano have all answered the siren call of Paris when early critical success suggested, correctly, that they were destined for a fashion stage bigger than London.

This season, however, Clements Ribeiro are returning to London from Paris where they have shown for the past three seasons. Perhaps this successful duo's return will put an end to London's reputation as just a place to leave. The continuing loyalty of Paul Smith, as well as increasingly successful smaller designers such as Eley Kishimoto, Roland Mouret and Elspeth Gibson, may also improve London's ragged reputation.

Meanwhile, Milan seems to have recently been more interested in consolidating the city's reputation for molto sexiness than in anything as prosaic as kick-starting trends. An unwillingness to acknowledge a downturn in the luxury market has been a similar Milanese trait of late, with the colour palette running from gold to sable. However, after Versace took the money-saving step of opting for a couture presentation instead of a full-on show in Paris last month, perhaps even Milan has realised you can't have gilt without guilt anymore.

Just as Victoria Beckham still instinctively cleaves to her old role, Paris remains the chic one of the bunch. But even here change is afoot. Thanks to the canniness of certain young designers at old houses (Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton, Tom Ford at YSL, at Chloe), traditional Parisian labels are finding a wider audience.