Milan world's top fashion city, Mumbai 16th followed by Delhi

Milan has been named the world's top fashion city in an annual survey that ranks Mumbai at the 16th place and New Delhi at 17th.

Following Milan and New York are Paris, Rome and London.

Last year, Mumbai was at the 22nd place and New Delhi at 24th. Hong Kong and Sao Paulo have broken into the 'Top 10' this year, the GLM said.

"The global economic restructuring has affected the fashion industry just as it has touched everything else," said Millie L Payack, a director at GLM.

"The catwalks were still crowded though with the lights dimmer, the hype a bit more restrained, and 'recessionists', of course, thriving," Millie said in a statement.

Other Asian cities in the top 30 are Hong Kong (7), Dubai (11), Tokyo (12), Shanghai (15), Singapore (20) and Bangkok (27).

This ranking was based on GLM's predictive quantities index, a proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in print and electronic media, on the Internet and throughout the blogosphere. The words and phrases are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets.