Buenos Aires is a city with great passion for fashion and design. Porteños, as the residents of the city are called, have always been known to follow the latest trends in this creative and fashion-forward city. Buenos Aires was the first city in the world to be appointed UNESCO City of Design in 2005, an achievement that recognized the strategic importance of its creative and cultural industries. Buenos Aires was also the first city in the world to participate in Art Basel’s Cities Program in late 2017.

Buenos Aires hosts major annual events that showcase top local and foreign talents. ArteBA – South America’s largest art fair – brings together artists, curators, gallerists and design lovers to the city each May. And BA Fashion Week – Argentina’s bi-annual leading fashion event – highlights the country’s well known established brands as well as emerging local designers.

Argentina’s capital is also home to Latin America’s largest center of design.The city-run Metropolitan Design Center is a hub for creative talent and an incubator for brands with growth potential where designers, academics and entrepreneurs come together to network. The center organizes an annual International Design Festival and houses numerous boutiques that sell unique design items.

The city’s Palermo and Recoleta neighborhoods are full of upmarket designer boutiques and showrooms selling the best of Argentina’s top brands and independent designs. From the leather goods and footwear that Argentina has always been famous for to distinctive clothing items with avant-garde textile designs, handcrafted eyewear, limited edition perfumes, furniture and housewares, visitors will be sure to find a memorable item and not return home empty-handed. Independent design boutiques and private showrooms in creative and often unexpected spaces are also springing up in newly trendy neighborhoods like Villa Crespo and Chacarita. Alternatively, arts and crafts markets (ferias) held in neighborhood parks – mostly on weekends – are also must visits to score unique pieces of jewelry, clothing and housewares from independent artisans.Argentina’s designers are inspired by the country’s fusion of indigenous and European cultures and by the native materials that reflect Argentina’s vast diversity of climates and landscapes. Wool, angora, vicuña, leather and carpincho (capybara) are crafted into sophisticated items like sweaters, ponchos, shawls, handbags, belts and footwear. Native woods and silver are used to make one-of-a-kind furniture and housewares. Many designers work with rural artisans and craftsmen to combine ancestral techniques with contemporary or classic designs.

Silverware is another great Argentine tradition and numerous silversmiths create collectors’ pieces mostly inspired by the country’s gaucho culture using centuries-old methods.

Argentina’s traditions of gaucho and equestrian culture combined with its love affair with polo also make it a leading producer of some of the world’s most sought-after polo gear, customized polo boots and other polo inspired and gaucho-chic fashion.

Design aficionados will find a wide variety of stylish hotels and design-forward restaurants, cafes and bars to choose from.

For additional information on Argentina, please visit argentina.travel.