A few weeks ago, I spent about 24 hours in Los Angeles, one of the world’s most fashionable cities. I was only supposed to have a connecting flight through the city, but delays meant I had an unexpected free day to spend before my rescheduled flight. I walked through Venice Beach – specifically Abbot Kinney Boulevard – and felt more artistically inspired than I had in years while living in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This isn’t to say that Charlotte isn’t fashionable. There are some clothing stores there that I adore and find creatively stimulating, as well as some stylish people who always look impeccable. That said, the city isn’t known as a fashion hub, and generally, your average Charlottean isn’t pushing the boundaries with clothing.
By contrast, it was thrilling to walk around Los Angeles, like static in the air, and see people put together outfits that I would’ve never thought of. Or looking into stores and admiring new perspectives on staple items like dresses or sunglasses that I’d never observed anywhere else. The experience had me wondering, why is it that some cities make us feel inspired to try out new styles while others don’t?
What Actually Makes Fashionable Cities Fashionable?
Before we get into the question of why some cities and areas spark new ideas while others don’t, we first need to explore what makes a city stylish. Using the most obvious examples- New York City, Paris, and Milan- these fashion capitals hold fashion weeks every year. They are home to a variety of businesses, as well as entertainment, artistic, and cultural activities that each have a strong international identity.
These cities are home to world-renowned fashion schools, fashion magazines, and a powerful market of wealthy fashion clientele. Some people also consider Tokyo, London, and Los Angeles to be fashion capitals, although not as prominently as the first three. Put simply, to be a top-tier, stylish city, it must be a hub for creative minds, offering resources, networking, and events.
But what about other cities that aren’t in these higher echelons of couture? My mind jumps to cities like San Francisco, Istanbul, and Miami, none of which are part of the top- or secondary-tier of the “fashion capital” hierarchy, but each of which has a strong fashion community. This question highlights some key distinctions.
It Must Have An Apparel Manufacturing Industry
First, a stylish city must have its own production system. Istanbul is home to distinguished fashion schools and Turkey is ranked as the world’s fourth-largest textile exporter; San Francisco is famous for innovation and sustainability; Miami has access to incredible artisans throughout Latin America. (I lived in Miami for a year and saw some of the most interesting and intricate handmade designs there.) If materials are difficult to obtain, designers and stylish people will look elsewhere.
A Stylish Culture Should Be Endemic
This brings me to my second point: in each of the cities mentioned thus far are people who are willing to push the envelope when it comes to self-expression. The harsh reality is that in some cities, the cultural expectations are that you meet the expectations – nothing more, nothing less.
I briefly attended a university in a small town in South Carolina before transferring up to Boston University, and I remember feeling claustrophobic not only by the cultural expectations about my dress, but also by the fact that the clothing stores there offered nothing exciting or unusual. People need to feel free to experiment and be surrounded by experimenters.
By contrast, when I’ve walked around in New York City, I’ve thought, “Wow, my clothes are too conservative.” It all depends on the city’s culture.
It Should Appeal to Style Icons
Beyond that, the city must be able to draw influential figures, whether that’s celebrities, designers, or stylists. I’ve been watching Running Point on Netflix, so of course, my mind jumped to Law Roach, an American fashion stylist, who cameos in the show. A city must be able to meet the demands of a stylist like him, not just for clothes, but also for the best tailors, jewelers, shoemakers, and the list goes on. Style icons looking to refine their taste and people working in or interested in the fashion industry must have proper access to it, and that can only happen in a handful of cities.
Where Have Style Icons Cultivated Their Taste?
As I mentioned, fashionable cities offer more opportunities than non-fashionable ones. With modern technology, the fashion-obsessed, even in remote cities, have access to online magazines, Pinterest, and TikTok. There’s something unique about being completely inundated by people trying new things, though, and some of the world’s most well-known designers have moved to fashion capitals for exactly this purpose:
- Yves Saint Laurent: Born in Oran, Algeria, he was designing dresses for his mom and sisters by his teen years. By age 18, he moved to Paris to begin studying at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture.
- Cristóbal Balenciaga: Born in Getaria, Spain, he became a tailor’s apprentice at age 12 and moved to Madrid and then Paris when the Spanish Civil War began. It was in Paris that he cultivated his designs and became one of the most influential couturiers of the 20th century.
- Giorgio Armani: Born in Piacenza, Italy, it was his move to Milan that gave him the opportunities to experiment with fashion. His first foray into the industry was as a window dresser and store clerk at a department store in the city. Through his connections there, he built a reputation, ultimately launching his own fashion line.
Not all designers have gone the route of permanently settling in one fashionable city, though. Take Virgil Abloh, for example: he was born in Rockford, Illinois – about 90 miles from Chicago’s city center – and began his career in the windy city. He didn’t permanently relocate to a fashion hub; instead, he had an internship at Fendi in Rome in 2009, founded his fashion house Off-White in Milan, and became artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton in Paris. Throughout his career, he operated between these various cities, with his home base in Chicago.
Regardless of whether someone has settled down in fashionable cities or has spent meaningful time in one, it’s clear that they have an undeniable impact on those who experience them—even my recent 24 hours in Los Angeles left me feeling more creative. As it turns out, wanting to buy a totally new wardrobe after a few days in a fashion hub isn’t irrational (thank goodness) – there are psychological reasons behind why these cities inspire us.
The Psychology and Contagion of Creative Environments
Creativity is Contagious (No Need to Wear a Mask)
Creative environments like an art museum, a fashionable city, or a trendy restaurant are more than they seem on the surface. It isn’t just that you’re seeing new ideas come to life; instead, much like the COVID pandemic (sorry to bring up bad memories), creativity can be contagious – and this is something you want to catch. Research published in April 2016 by William & Mary University found that reading something written by inspired writers elicited higher levels of inspiration in the average reader than did reading something written by an uninspired writer.
Speaking to the university, Todd Thrash, the lead researcher, remarked, “The feeling of being inspired is sometimes presumed to just be a feeling and nothing more. But my data indicate that it is consequential. If you are feeling inspired, you are in fact in the kind of state in which you can produce a text that may have a similar effect on other people.” His was one of the first studies to investigate the notion of creativity contagion, and even though its scope was writing and not fashion, it still helps us understand how inspired outfits on one person beget those on another.
Social Proof in Fashionable Cities
At the core of the contagion theory is the principle of social proof. In psychology, social proof refers to our tendency to do what others do (and wear), especially in ambiguous or unfamiliar situations. It can also lead to conformity. This theory is something I’ve written about before, specifically regarding how social proof, fast fashion, and micro-trends are ruining our sense of individual style. Similarly, social proof can contribute to our comfort level in taking risks with how we dress and trying new things.
A 2025 study examined Gen Z women’s responsiveness to user-generated content (UGC) compared with traditional marketing. To be clear, UGC refers to any digital content, including reviews, photos, and videos, that regular, everyday people create and publish on social media, including on YouTube, which I’ve written about before. The study concluded that the Gen Z women participants perceived authentic UGC as significant in shaping their perspectives on brand quality and trustworthiness. What we can learn from the study in the context of fashionable cities is that exposure to influential, authentic, and stylish people can lead Gen Z women (and presumably people of all ages and generations) to adopt more open-minded perspectives on their own wardrobes.
Why Some Cities Fall Behind The Trends
With an understanding of the dynamics behind social proof and creative contagion, we can better understand why some cities don’t have a reputation as a fashion hub despite the presence of genuinely cool stores and/or stylish people living there. For example, in some cities, social proof can work in the opposite direction. When people generally dress the same, with few outliers, repeated exposure to conformity reinforces it; any clothing experimentation will stand out. The unspoken message becomes “this is how people dress here.” It can be hard to go against that, especially if you’re new to that city or want to be a part of the community.
Another factor at play here is that the cities at risk of falling behind in fashion trends are also those with less cultural diffusion. A term from sociology, cultural diffusion describes the process by which language, innovation, knowledge, and cultural characteristics spread within or between cultures and communities. A paper from 2008 argued that societies isolated from outside cultural influences became really good at doing things their way, which worked well within a stable system. However, as globalization has increased, cities with greater cultural mixing have been messier and less cohesive, yet better at pivoting.
What this means in the context of culture, contagion, and fashion is that a city like Paris or Milan is inherently more comfortable with a disrupted status quo because of its high exposure to other cultures, languages, and ways of working. Cities like Charlotte aren’t behind because its residents lack taste, intelligence, or access to culture. Instead, it’s because it’s a more stable city with less outside influence. Culturally, places like that are optimized for internal cohesion rather than external adaptation. That doesn’t bode well for fashion, which is inherently dynamic.
What Can You Do if You Don’t Live In a Fashionable City?
It can feel incredibly frustrating to want to try new things with your wardrobe and feel like you can’t. I have experienced that firsthand; sometimes it’s so stifling you feel like you can’t even breathe, and it gets to a point where you genuinely feel out of place. Growing up in Charlotte, I would dream of the day I could move somewhere more inspiring, and once I did – when I moved to Boston at age 20 – I finally felt freer. (I moved back home to Charlotte at age 27 due to health-related issues.)
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you don’t live in Milan, Paris, New York City, or London. And if you do, I’m jealous! For those who don’t, but still love fashion and want to experiment with their personal style, consider who you follow on social media. If you like the style of a specific city, find accounts that focus on that. Or if there’s a fashion blogger you like, see who they follow.
Seeing their posts essentially becomes the street style scene you don’t have physical access to. Yes, it’s not the same as walking past style icons with dazzling outfits while picking up groceries or getting on the subway, but it can somewhat replicate the social proofing concept I mentioned earlier. If your feed is full of people experimenting with their style, you can replicate that exposure and creative contagion digitally.
Another idea is to be the cultural diffusion you wish to see in the world. I can’t tell you how many times I would come back from a trip to a fashionable city like Los Angeles, brimming with excitement and creativity, only to feel stifled by the cultural norms of where I lived. What I’m suggesting is to be the snowflake that turns into an avalanche, or, if liquid H2O is more your thing, the ripple that turns into a wave. Cultural diffusion has to start from somewhere, after all.
Lastly, I know this isn’t accessible to everyone, but whenever you do get the chance to travel, take note of what inspires you. Was it the fabric, the colors, the creativity, or the general vibe that you liked? Is there any way you could replicate that at home?
These are imperfect solutions, but truly, nothing feels worse than feeling like you can’t express yourself. Having a sense of community and camaraderie has always made me feel better – it’s like, “I’m not alone in thinking this is cool!”
You Don’t Need a Fashionable City to Think Like a Style Icon
Travel always gives me a different perspective – whether that’s on food, language, customs, or style. After only 24 hours in Los Angeles, I was practically vibrating with a creative inspiration I hadn’t felt in years while living in North Carolina.
There’s something to be said for the contagious nature of being physically surrounded by people who value trying new styles and experimenting. In the most famous fashionable cities in the world, there are high levels of cultural diffusion, and social proofing means it’s almost expected that you dress uniquely. It’s important to remember that many of the style icons we admire today, like Virgil Abloh and Giorgio Armani, relocated to or spent significant time in fashion hubs, yet weren’t born into that world. For them, it all started with ideas and passion.
There are tangible ways to think like a style icon, explore self-expression, and find belonging, even for those of us who don’t live in these glamorous cities. Social media is a decent step in that direction, although it’s not a perfect solution. Similarly, it can feel daunting to step out on a limb and wear exactly what you want in environments that aren’t as open-minded.
The truth is, fashionable cities don’t create style icons; they do, however, influence and platform them. For fashionable people like us, it’s a mindset – a desire to try new things and release one’s creativity into the world, even if it’s novel. Saint Laurent got his start by designing dresses for his family; Balenciaga was a tailor’s apprentice at age 12.
You don’t need to be the next Balenciaga or Saint Laurent. Still, you can take inspiration from and think like them, whether that means curating your social media feed, taking a trip somewhere that makes you feel alive, or simply being the most interestingly dressed person at your local grocery store.
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