Core77

Critical Cities' D.J. Huppatz has just posted "21st Century Design Zone: the Meatpacking District," a thorough, and we mean thorough, analysis of the explosion of designer fashion, designer furniture, and the lifestyle to go with it all, taking place in none other than the decreasingly putrid-smelling and increasingly condo-rific Meatpacking District here in NYC.

With its cobbled streets and occassional passing meat truck from diehard remainders of the meatpacking industry, West 14th Street now houses a collection of flagship stores of late 90s and early 21st century fashion stars such as Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Diana von Furstenberg and Carlos Miele. Far from stuffy Madison Avenue or touristy Fifth Avenue, the Meatpacking District feels more exclusive because it is still somewhat isolated, although this seems to be changing fast. It is the new block for the new stars of global fashion, and who can resist the semantic slippage between meatpacking and fashion?