Like bookends, California and New York City are positioned on each coast of the United States. Conveniently placed to absorb influence from the rest of the globe, these progressive cultural centers set the precedent for that of America. A country’s values can be understood by taking a look at what is bought, sold and spoken about within any community, and an element of culture that fully encompasses all three of these measurements is fashion. The “Big Four”–or the four fashion capitals of the world–are considered to be Milan, Paris, London and, currently, New York. Though this hierarchy is unanimously decided, New York’s residence in the fourth spot seems to be subject to change. With Los Angeles coming in fifth, the question of whether or not LA could be in the process of buying this fashion real-estate is on the minds of many.

To embark on this debate, it is important to understand Los Angeles’ enduring reputation in the fashion world. With all due respect, LA has never been considered “classy” or “high-fashion” in comparison to New York. Its culture has always been home to more glitter, more drama and more celebrity (both established and wanna-be). With that said, it has never pretended not to be. Los Angeles knows who it is, and owns that. The centralization of entertainment wealth in the area, which can be accredited to Hollywood’s influence, has caused celebrity culture to run deep in its identity. This makes it so that popular culture is synonymous with LA culture, and it is one that is ever-changing with its residents.

LA’s cultural image has blossomed with roots in film and entertainment that permeate its fashion brand. This has created a city whose streets are a stage on which influencers —of both celebrity and social media type —walk a daily catwalk. These streets form the fabric of LA fashion culture, woven with the thread of brands who dominate the city. The allure of relocating to Los Angeles has always been a part of the city’s spirit. It is a contemporary melting pot of entrepreneurial dreams that are on par with the times and ahead of the trends. Essentially, it was known to be the machine behind the face of luxury. LA remains a major manufacturing hub that provides for the entire fashion industry in production value. Because of this, it is also home to many showrooms in the area which brings buyers for large companies to the area. This entrepreneurial identity, in tandem with its creative, progressive spirit, is the reason that streetwear was so successful in the ‘90s. The establishment of Fairfax and Melrose as a trend-setting area for new-age fashion shaped the city’s identity and created a new facet of allure for popular brands because of the abundant attention the area was receiving. This attention was created by brands such as Supreme, and intensified by faces such as those of Odd Future. These names and faces brought talent with them that changed the culture of LA fashion, forever, and their long-lasting influence is still seen today in popular trends that dominate our culture.

This energy helped to create a space for young creatives in the industry in Los Angeles – a space that is occupied in abundance, today, by influencers of various types. This also created a consumer market, not exclusive to Los Angeles, that craves accessibility, idolization and identification. The fashion industry has had to grow with this consumer market in order to stay successful, and for many luxury brands, this incited infrastructural change. Although the high fashion market is not declining, the most successful brands are those who are adapting to their consumer – a more bottom-to-top approach than the top-to-bottom approach most luxury houses have taken, historically.

Luxury brands cannot rely on the allure of exclusivity and unattainability that they used to because it is no longer attractive to the consumer. This has caused luxury brands to shift to cater to the values of the younger generations, inevitably prioritizing trends rather than previously worshiped symbols. A Vogue article written about luxury brands and the ways that they are changing in order to maintain relevance notes that the Vogue Business Luxury Fashion index found that Alexander McQueen, Versace and Valentino managed to outperform its competitors in digital marketing and brand perception because of their presence on social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. These tactics have become more valuable than the laurels of brand loyalty that high fashion brands are comfortable resting upon. The result of this has been their surpassing of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Gucci. Tom Ford, Nicholas Ghesquière, Slimane are all creative directors of luxury brands who have chased the contemporary allure all the way to Los Angeles. These three designers have decided to show their collections in Los Angeles over other locations in recent years which has established Los Angeles’ ability to house high fashion. Additionally, Yves Saint Laurent’s creative director relocated from Paris to Los Angeles to create a more contemporary image for the brand who was beginning to become stale. This proves that the consumer market’s fascination with LA surrounds accessibility, obsession and contemporary ideals is not exclusive to the consumer, and is shared by creative directors of luxury brands.

Another interesting change to note is the inclusion of items such as sneakers and hoodies that would have never been considered high-fashion are now being produced by luxury brands because they know it’s what will sell. This is a prime example of catering to the trends and values of the new consumer market, 40% of which will be occupied by Gen-Z consumers by the year 2035, which is helping luxury brands stay afloat (Chitrakorn, 2021). This fits in very well with Los Angeles culture in its glorification of streetwear and skate culture which is why these brands have become trendy in the area. In the same article, Rebecca Robins, global chief of learning and culture officer at Interbrand, claims that “[luxury brands] don’t represent a need, but an aspiration.” The aspiration that is created around a brand pivots on the image of the influencers who promote it in the new age. This gives social media immense power and this is a sphere that Los Angeles is well-established in.

Partially accredited to the presence of social media in society, Los Angeles is filled with influencers who have digested high fashion and created their own image based on their consumption. This includes trends, brands and styles that they’ve adopted based on their preferences. This means that what the audience is consuming is a celebrity-influenced, eclectic version of what designers produced for the runway. Hence, what I like to call, the “influencer filter.” The curation of trends based on the influencers who have a powerful platform, the effect that has on the consumer market, and, furthermore, the effect that has on the industry. This is why social media has been so powerful in dictating trends and allowing certain luxury brands to grow while others fall behind.

So is Los Angeles the next high-fashion capital? Maybe it was never built to be. Maybe it is creating space for the Fashion Capital of the new age. An accessible, contemporary, trend-setting capital for a generation that is beginning to outgrow the allure of unattainable, luxury fashion. High fashion reputations were built on decades of legacy and tradition, whereas, the City of Angels was built on the American Dream. Its entrepreneurial spirit is much too free to bear the responsibility of adhering to tradition and upholding morals, and LA fashion culture has given the consumer the stage. At the end of the day, Los Angeles and New York are arguably incomparable, for they hold different positions in the industry. Ultimately, it will be at the hands of the consumer market, dictated by the trajectory of up-and-coming trends, to decide which coast can become home to the ideals of the new generation.