“High Heels and tight jeans - What is my city’s style?” – Sydney

A while ago a friend of mine explained to me that he doesn't like Melbourne because people wore black leather jackets.

Fair call, but what does that tell us about Sydney? In all honesty – I don't know. Maybe that it's more colourful? Playful? Experimental?

Or enthusiastic – the opening of Zara was accompanied by a massive buzz: within three minutes of the fast-fashion icon opening at 80 per cent of the stock had been sold.

This in turn begs the question if Zara filled a need for (comparatively) affordable designer fashion. (It also makes one wonder what acts of shopping frenzy would be committed if H&M decided to move into Australia.)

I always felt that fashion wise Sydney had enough to offer; the Zara hype seemed strange but maybe that's speaking from a European perspective, after all you find Zara stores in the pedestrian zones of every larger German city.

Maybe it's the fashion version of the cultural cringe – yet if one thing became clear from being forced to watch Australia's Next Top Model with my partner it's that Australia definitely has talented designers.

Maybe they operate in more of a niche space, in the exclusive realm of the haute couture.

Below them we have the casual mainstream. I fail to come up with any distinguishing features except casualness. But in a country with long egalitarian traditions, even if they're often just imagined, this should not come as a surprise.

Lastly we have the young people bearing the signs of a well connected milieu that betrays a striving for anti-conventionalism but eventually just results in more of the same. Be in here or in Berlin/London/NYC – the local/ international fashion victims really make you wonder if Adorno had some merit after all...

-Jens