Austin is the state capital of Texas. And it’s the fashion capital of the Lone Star State, too.
OK, we can already hear the screams of protest from Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio: We’re fashionable, too! And we imagine you want to chuck your Jimmy Choos at us now. So let’s clarify what we mean by “fashion capital.”
To stitch together our ranking, we looked at the number of general clothing stores in each of the four major metro areas in Texas, and then calculated the number of stores for every 100,000 residents. We relied on U.S. Census Bureau data to find each area’s store count for 2014 (the most recent year for which that data is available). To ensure the most accurate comparison, we used population data from 2014 to compute the per capita figures.
So, that’s how we arrived at naming Austin the fashion capital of Texas. In doing so, we mean no offense to fashionistas and fashion designers in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. (It’s worth mentioning that Austin does host the largest fashion event in the state, Austin Fashion Week.)
The Census Bureau data covers what the agency calls “family” clothing stores, meaning that they cater to men, women, and children instead of just one of those apparel categories.
What follows is our ranking of each of the four major metros in Texas, based on the number of clothing stores per 100,000 residents in 2014.
1. Austin, TX
Number of clothing stores: 227
Population: 1,943,299
Number of clothing stores per 100,000 residents: 11.7
2. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Number of clothing stores: 652
Population: 6,954,330
Number of clothing stores per 100,000 residents: 9.4
3. Houston, TX
Number of clothing stores: 561
Population: 6,490,180
Number of clothing stores per 100,000 residents: 8.6
4. San Antonio, TX
Number of clothing stores: 188
Population: 2,328,652
Number of clothing stores per 100,000 residents: 8.1
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