Paris, London, New York, Milan. Four cities that together exude all of the glamour, prestige and economic capital the fashion industry was built on. For decades their profound influence has gone unchallenged. Now, aided by digital media, cities outside of the Big Four are beginning to loosen the industry’s once rigid geography. A growing discourse on high fashion’s socioeconomic barriers also seem to be widening criticism of the Big Four, and welcoming shifts in focus. Does decentralisation threaten to diminish the status of the Big Four, or just offer a welcome dose of competition?
In the early days, big four fashion weeks were industry events that had half the public reach they do today. Our understanding of them was mediated by insiders- filtered through editors, critics, designers and models in glossy magazines or television interviews. Nowadays, public opinion can be shaped by anyone with internet access.
In recent years, attention has been drawn to how big fashion weeks tend to alienate those who don’t feel they are accounted for by them, such as disabled or plus sized people. This criticism rarely originates within the industry itself, although small breakthroughs, from more inclusive casting to adaptive design experiments, are being made here and there. These critiques, now amplified online, certainly have potential to chip away at the respect the big four are accustomed to.
Yet the dilution of authority isn’t just about who gets to speak; it’s also about where fashion happens. It’s no coincidence that all ‘big four’ cities belonged to influential global powers before the inceptions of each of their respective fashion weeks. It’s therefore no secret that their success was built on history, infrastructure, and the way entire ecosystems of designers, buyers, media, and money converged around them.
For decades this privilege has cemented the supremacy of the big four. Now, high levels of global connectivity and curiosity, driven by social media, are beginning to weaken the monopoly they once held.
Emerging fashion capitals like Seoul and Cophenhagen are benefitting from heightened interest in their own fashion weeks.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Fashion Week for S/S 2024 had 84 brands and 101 international buyers, resulting in $5.24 million in contracts. In 2025, this is expected to grow to 95 domestic fashion designer brands and 120 global buyers participating, generating an even greater economic value.
CPH Fashion Week is also experiencing notable growth, with AOL reporting a “seasonal online media exposure growth of 117.5%” for S/S 2024, and “over a million more social-media impressions” compared to S/S 2023. Their three-day schedule became four days to accommodate a higher number of shows, and the general consensus across various fashion publications is that they’re the big four’s closest competitor.
Then again, is it fair to position these newer fashion weeks as ‘competitors’ to the big four? Instead of defining themselves in opposition to New York, London, Milan, or Paris, they emulate them and chase their prestige. Their authority, despite some minor cracks in their global monopoly, remains largely intact.
Again, their real disruption comes from social media. Decades ago, big four fashion weeks regulated the trend cycle- an annual schedule that TikTok has well and truly seen to. Now, microtrends appear and then disappear just as fast.
Gone are the days when innovation lived solely on ‘big four’ runways- or any runway in the literal sense. Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest aren’t just promoting trends that have trickled down from big four fashion weeks. They’re driving trends that originated in online spaces. The likes of Miu Miu, Deisel and Collina Strada leaned hard into Y2K nostalgia once Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest began resurrecting turn-of-the-century looks. Gucci began displaying grungy colour palettes and ruffling lace details for FW 2020 when dark academia boomed on Tumblr and then on TikTok during the pandemic. No longer the birthplace of trends, big four fashion weeks can increasingly be found chasing styles that emerged elsewhere.
Of course, high fashion has never existed in a vacuum- it’s always been influenced by wider social factors. Trends, strictly speaking, have never originated on the runway- they’ve always been products of social shifts and cultural moods. But now, we don’t need to wait for one of the big four to ‘confirm’ a trend when we can just as easily do it ourselves.
Image credit: Raden Prasetya via Unsplash