KEY POINTS:
The Terracotta Army will do battle with Rembrandt. Ewan McGregor's Iago will take on Kevin Kline's Cyrano de Bergerac. On the catwalk, Gwen Stefani will be fighting for the limelight with Stella McCartney.
The unofficial battle for the title World Capital of Cool is about to resume. There
are only two big beasts in the jungle: New York, once the undisputed champion, and London, seen by many as rapidly closing the gap. Debate about their respective merits raged earlier this year when London emerged as a threat to the Big Apple's financial dominance.
It is about to start again as the cities go head to head in an autumn culture war. New York has struck an early blow after being voted the "coolest city in the world". An online survey of more than 2500 people aged 18-35 was commissioned by STA Travel and CoolBrands, part of the Superbrands consultancy.
New York was rated number one for "coolness" with 14 per cent of the vote, followed by London on 10 per cent. It is a measure of how far the British capital's thriving bars, restaurants and shops have come in recent years that it beat perennial favourites Sydney, Barcelona, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok, Paris, Tokyo and Berlin in the top 10.
But the perceived gulf between London and the rest of Britain was laid bare by an associated poll to find the world's coolest countries. Australia topped the rankings, followed by New Zealand, Thailand and America, whereas Britain failed to make thetop 20.
Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the CoolBrands Council, said the results did not surprise him: "Historically, New York has been seen as the self-proclaimed capital of the world. Almost everyone feels they know New York, even if they haven't been there, because they've seen so many films and TV programmes. The way it has bounced back after 9/11 has shown New Yorkers' 'can do' attitude.
"But London is starting to challenge, not only in the City, but for the crown of capital of the world."
For a long time New York held the upper hand. John Lennon, who moved to Manhattan, put it succinctly: "If I'd lived in Roman times, I'd have lived in Rome. Where else? Today America is the Roman Empire and New York is Rome itself." But in January New York was rattled when the Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, warned that Wall Street was losing ground.
An article in New York Magazine also detected a shift: "If Paris was the capital of the 19th century and New York of the 20th, London is shaping up to be the capital of the 21st century ... In short, New York is cardiganed Woody Allen and London is party-dressed Lily Allen." The British capital, which beat New York to host the 2012 Olympics, will receive another boost in November when the spectacularly restored St Pancras station offers a high-speed link to Paris.
The next front line will be the catwalk. New York Fashion Week is under way to be followed next weekend by its London equivalent.
New York has the big money glamour but does not impress everyone. James Huckbody, fashion features editor of British Elle, said: "New York is all about the bottom dollar, so the clothes tend to be more customer-friendly. They don't always make for revolutionary catwalk moments."
New York's show is dominated by fashion behemoths Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, moonlighting celebrities - such as singer Gwen Stefani's label LAMB - and labels like Marchesa, famous for making red-carpet dresses for Hollywood starlets. This makes it all the more galling that British designers nurtured by London Fashion Week often decamp to New York to boost their profile.
The exodus means that London Fashion Week typically relies on new talent. But not this time. Matthew Williamson and Luella Bartley have quit New York to show in London again. As Bartley's friends include Kate Moss, her show and shop opening will be the events of the week. Stella McCartney will also be in town for a collaboration with Adidas. But London's impetus always comes from new designers who may now steal New York's thunder. Christopher Kane has been tipped for success by Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Elsewhere, the cities will slug it out with blockbuster exhibitions guaranteed to attract thousands. Terracotta warriors from the tomb of the emperor Qin Shi Huang in Xi'an, China, go on display at the British Museum this week in what is already one of the fastest selling shows of all time. A selection of Ancient Egyptian treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun will be the star attraction at the O2, the former Millennium Dome in east London, from November.
Tate Britain is preparing an exhibition dedicated to the Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais.
New York's ripostes include a major exhibition of Rembrandt and other Dutch masters at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the Neue Galerie will mount works by Gustav Klimt.
Glittering film festivals are coming up in both cities, with New York premiering Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited. At the theatre, Londoners are looking forward to Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse, and dancer Carlos Acosta at Sadler's Wells. New Yorkers will be treated to Cyrano de Bergerac starring Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner and Pygmalion with Claire Danes. The Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear and The Seagull, both starring Sir Ian McKellen, will open in New York before travelling to London.
Nicholas Hytner, artistic director of the National Theatre, has no doubt which city is king. "As far as English-speaking theatre is concerned, London is the world capital, and I don't think anyone in New York would dispute that," he said. "Theatre is part of the national conversation here in a way that it isn't in America."
Asked if he rated London as the coolest city in the world, Hytner added: "You bet. It's not the most beautiful, but it's the most exciting."
But Ed Victor, the New York-born literary agent who divides his time between the two cities, said: "New York is cooler, but London is more cosmopolitan."
Indeed, the two cities have more in common with each other than with their own countries, says Tony Travers, an academic at the London School of Economics. "Trying to make a precise judgment between them is very difficult,' he said. "Even in New York they're slightly alert to the fact that London is gaining on them. The confidence of a thousand years of developed democracy and a carnival-on-the-edge-of-frenzy atmosphere gives London a good chance in the modern world."
- Observer