Chinese Country Beauty

LONDON: Style hounds sniffing out new trends are sure to be doing a lot of traveling this year - and not just to the traditional four fashion capitals of Paris, London, Milan and New York.

In the past few years, dozens of smaller fashion weeks have popped up in all parts of the world - making for a packed international calendar. Fashion weeks are being held by cities in India, Turkey, Iceland, Malaysia and Australia. The Russian Fashion Week in Moscow is now the largest fashion event in Eastern Europe.

Just in the past few months, the Vitrina Moda Fashion Week in Cali, Colombia, has highlighted some sizzling new South American designs and South Africa Fashion Week in Johannesburg has showcased more traditional garb.

In July, the Imam Khomeini Mosque in Tehran staged Iran's first Islamic fashion week, at which ankle-length overcoats were de rigueur.

"Having just been invited to attend Iceland Fashion Week, I can honestly say that fashion week events are springing up in many places simply because they work so well," said David Wolfe, creative director at the Doneger Group, a fashion trend consulting firm in New York.

"They generate publicity, provide photo-ops for all - the designer foots the bill for the models, the stylist and the lighting - and showcase a designer's vision," he said. "Paris, London, Milan and New York are not the only places that produce fashion."

If done right, fashion weeks can be huge generators of revenue. Many are tied to the tourism industry, but local designers benefit by getting a chance to show their wares to global buyers.

First staged in 2001, New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland is an event with a major impact on tourism and on the economy.