凯特王妃成时尚女王 着装品位“让人心动”

　　Inspiring, chic and effortlessly elegant -- that's what designers at London Fashion Week have hailed Kate Middleton's style, as her sartorial choices could prove a potential stimulus to Britain's clothing industry。

　　Middleton has graced magazine covers since she announced her engagement to Britain's Prince William last year and her wedding in April was watched by millions of people around the world, with many eagerly waiting to see her bridal gown。

　　With all eyes on her wardrobe, dresses have sold out hours after she has worn them as women seek to copy her style。

　　"I think she is the new queen of fashion ... She's young, she's every little girl's dream and she always looks chic and sophisticated," Britain's Julien Macdonald told reporters after his spring/summer 2012 womenswear show。

　　Middleton is as likely to wear designer clothes as high street ones. The 29-year old, now known as the Duchess of Cambridge, has been praised for wearing more affordable main street labels and has been snapped wearing clothes by British fashion retailers Reiss as well as Whistles and Spain's Zara。

　　A blue Issa crossover knee-length dress that she wore when her engagement to William was announced sold out within 24 hours and cheap knock-offs vanished almost instantly。

　　"I think she is great, I'm very fortunate that she likes to wear Issa," the label's designer Daniella Helayel told the reporters。

　　London has overtaken New York as the world's fashion capital for 2011, fueled by media interest in late British designer Alexander McQueen and Middleton, according to a survey by the Global Language Monitor released in August。

　　While no one denies Middleton's influence, fashion experts still debate her status. In New York, fashionistas said she was a style follower, not a trendsetter like her spouse's late mother Princess Diana。

　　But London-based designers were full of praise for her. "I think she's brilliant, she's brilliant for England. Perfect, perfect future Queen, she's elegant, she knows how to hold herself," said Alice Temperley, whose white dress Middleton wore to watch the tennis at Wimbledon earlier this year. That dress also swiftly sold out online after Middleton wore it。

　　"There's nothing trashy or vulgar about her," US Vogue editor Anna Wintour has been quoted as saying. "She dresses her age and never looks out of place."