Women share a passion for fashion on a cosmic scale

NEW YORK -- Israeli women love their tummy-baring tank tops and Dolce and Gabbana, while South African women embrace the local culture with their turbans, scarves and beads.

Meanwhile, Russian women like to get all dolled up -- and wear a lot of makeup.

That was the fashion buzz at Cosmic 2004, a gathering of editors in chief of Cosmopolitan magazines from all over the world. Editors from Australia, Croatia and Taiwan were among those in New York for what basically was a giant sleepover party for globe-trotting grown-ups.

And, of course, when you get so many style-conscious women together, the conversation eventually turns to fashion.

"South African women have fallen in love with themselves again, and that's great for fashion," says Vanessa Raphaely, that country's top "Cosmo girl."

She credits the end of apartheid as the impetus for a stronger women's movement.

"We had been isolated but there was no pride in South Africa. But in the last few years, women have found themselves, and they are melding South Africa -- which is like the America of Africa -- and the rest of Africa's authentic fashion sensibility. It's about women being proud of their roots and opening up to the rest of the world," Raphaely says.

South Africans are stylish, she says, but not slaves to fashion, mostly because these women like being individual and would hate to look like anyone else. Also, because of the heat, women are much more likely to show off some skin, Raphaely says.

"Things that sell visually in America also works in Russia, but never something that looks too British," says Elena Myasnikova.

Russian Cosmopolitan boasts the highest circulation of any glossy magazine in Europe at 610,000.

"When Russia opened up to the West, everything became very flashy. It was about Versace, Cavalli -- which is still popular. Every store in New York City came to Russia," she says.

"The common denominator among all the Cosmos is that women want to feel like they can claim their lives for themselves, in their look, in their relationships and work," says Kate White, editor in chief of U.S. Cosmopolitan.