Mumbai world's 38th top fashion capital, beats out Delhi

Here's a look at the Global Language Monitor's ranking of the top 55 fashion capitals across the globe.

The world fashion trade is estimated to be worth over USD 3 trillion and in a bid to identify major players, the Global Language Monitor has released its annual ranking of the most fashionable cities for 2012.

The ranking is based upon GLM's Narrative Tracking technology which analyses the Internet, blogosphere, the top 250,000 print and electronic news media, as well as new social media sources such as Twitter as they emerge.

The words, phrases and concepts are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets.

And the list has increased from 50 in previous years to 55, "in recognition of the significance and growth of regional capitals with their distinctive styles and contributions to the fashion industry".

So here are the top five -- as well as the rankings of Indian cities!

1. London

Buoyed by the emergence of Kate Middleton as a top fashion icon, London has been crowned the top global fashion capital, edging out New York for the second year in a row, and Paris too.

"London's two-year run has been has been propelled by two rather extraordinary circumstances -- the emergence of Kate Middleton as a top fashion icon, and the recent completion of what has been hailed as an extremely successful Summer Olympics," said Bekka Payack, fashion director of GLM.

Input: PTI

Prior to London's two-year reign, New York had reclaimed the crown from Milan in 2010, but remains in second place since last year.

New York was also top fashion capital for five years running from 2004 to 2008, taking the crown from Paris.

The Spanish city jumped up four places from Number Seven last year, to claim third place.

The French hub of haute couture slipped a spot from 2011, having previously dominated the list in 2010.

Spain landed a coup with two cities within the top five -- Madrid rounded them off, climbing considerably from its previous ranking at 12.

Rome, Sao Paulo, Milano, Los Angeles and Berlin followed to complete the top 10.

Mumbai's ranking fell considerably from last year's 24th place, stopping at 38.

The capital fared far worse, however, striving for relevance on the global stage with a fall of nine slots from last year's 39th.

In addition to Mumbai and Delhi, six Asian cities are in the list -- Hong Kong (12), Singapore (19), Tokyo (20), Shanghai (22), Bangkok (29), and Seoul (34).