New York, which has been at the number one slot for the past five years, is followed by Rome, Paris, Milan, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, Las Vegas, Berlin and Tokyo in the top 10.

Mumbai, ranked 18 in 2007, slipped down four places while New Delhi broke into the top 25 for the first time, according to the Global Language Monitor's annual survey.

Sydney leaped by five spots to No 7 while Dubai went up 12 ranks to be ranked 12th.

Stockholm and Cape Town also entered the top 25 for the first time as previous rankers Sao Paolo and Bangkok did not figure in the global list this year.

"Our yearly rankings clearly reinforce recent trends: the Big Five (New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, and London), far and away dominate the world of fashion, especially in the eyes of the print and electronic media, as well as on Internet," said Millie Lorenzo Payack, a director of the Global Language Monitor.

"At the same time, second tier cities in the world fashion rankings are coming on strong," he added.

"And, by the way, money spent on media outreach can indeed, make a difference; witness Dubai," Payack said in a statement.