Five fabulous trips for fashionistas

— -- With New York Fashion Week right around the corner (September 8 through 15), we got inspired to rifle through the racks and find some head-turning travel deals in five fashion capitals. Toss your Max Azria and Alexander McQueen into a carry-on. This collection of hotel and air discounts will leave you with more cash to blow in New York City, Montreal, Paris, Tokyo, and one emerging wildcard.

New York City

Every fall, Fashion Week draws some 100,000 style watchers to the exclusive runway shows at Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park. Didn't happen to snag a ticket? Rub elbows with designers, models, celebs, and fashion editors September 8 at the third annual Fashion's Night Out, an after-hours shopping extravaganza of discounts and in-store events. Bonus: Affinia and several other Manhattan hotels are running Fashion's Night Out package deals through the end of the year.

Rates start at $249 per night for Affinia's Passport to Style shopping package, which includes canvas totes, shopping snacks, and two in-room cocktails. The new Eventi, a Colum McCartan-designed Kimpton Hotel in Chelsea, is steps from the Garment District and posts deals under $200 per night on its website and Facebook page.

Tokyo

Quirky, colorful ensembles and cool confidence characterize Tokyo's exuberant street style. And the city's hipster kids manage to pull it off flawlessly. With the possible exception of Hello Kitty accessories, what's trending now in the Harajuku and Shibuya districts is constantly evolving. Thankfully, there's an affordable hotel a quick train ride away when you want to catch up on the latest craze.

The boutique Hotel Niwa Tokyo, a 2011 TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice winner, often goes for less than $200 per night and offers 25 percent off when you stay two nights. In the crowded hub near the Suidobashi station, the hotel combines modern amenities (and English-speaking staff) with elements of a traditional Japanese ryokan inn. Yes, you still feel like you're in Japan. And, with the Tokyo Dome's baseball games and concerts just two blocks away, there's hope for the significant other who's along for the ride.

Paris

Few things in life compare with the delicious seduction of Paris' wily couture ways. Not to worry. You can still be led handsomely astray without maxing out your credit cards. Go-today.com has a discounted Paris Escape air-and-hotel package starting at $899. It includes round-trip airfare, a four-night stay, and daily breakfast.

If four days isn't enough (is it ever?) for establishing a coffee ritual and discovering boutiques that house Chloé Sevigny collections, book an extra night or two at Hotel du Petit Moulin. It's a bit more than $200 per night but so worth the splurge. Designer Christian Lacroix unleashed his fantastical imagination in this 17th-century Marais district building, breathing a different personality into each of the 17 rooms. Some walls pop kitschy bright pink, while collage frescoes grace others—such a refreshing escape after a day strutting the streets in stilettos.

Montreal

You don't have to jet abroad for foxy metropolis couture with a charming accent. Get your fix for less in Montreal. This UNESCO City of Design happens to be the first stop on a worldwide tour of the exhibitThe Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk.