My 10 Favorite Designers

One of the most popular and famous Italian designers became a household name when his brand and clothing was featured in the 1980 classic American Gigolo which starred Richard Gere wearing Armani signature clothing. Born July 11, 1934, Giorgio’s first job in fashion was as a merchandiser for a well-known Milan department store called “La Rinascente.”  After that he worked in fashion design for Nino Cerruti.  After several years of working as a freelance fashion designer he took the advice of his good friend and business partner Sergio Galeotti, and together founded Giorgio Armani S.p.A.  They launched a ready to wear men’s and women’s clothing line in 1975 and the rest in history.  During his career Armani has received numerous awards like Best Fashion designer, Life time Achievement award from the council of American designers, and his work was also an exhibit at the famed Royal Academy of Arts in London, Guggenheim Bilbao, and also received the inaugural Rodeo Drive “Walk of Style” award.

The Armani brand also got a huge boost by outfitting Don Johnson in “Miami Vice,” and everyone wanted to own one of his iconic “power suits.”  With clothing lines like, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Armani Jeans, Armani Exchange, and Armani Home, he has not only expanded clothing lines, but business lines as well.  His newest venture are Armani Hotels, which debuted in 2010, so if you want to travel in style, you can wear Armani, sleep in Armani, and stay at Armani.  The ultimate dream for style.

  The youngest ever head of house at Dior was achieved by age 21.  That surely shows he would someday become of the greatest fashion designers ever, and he did.  He introduced “le smoking,” his legendary smoking suit and is credited with a range of other innovations including the reefer jacket, the sheer blouse, and the jumpsuit. If that’s doesn’t spike your interest in YSL and his history towards the world of fashion then by becoming the first living fashion designer to be given a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has to intrigue you at some level.  Born on January 8, 1936 in Algeria, fashion was always his life, since enrolling in Chambre Syndicale de la Couture and working for Dior since age 17, when most kids are still in High School, he began his career in fashion.  Starting his own fashion house is what truly made him unique.  He took pre-dominantly male pieces of clothing like tuxedo jackets and made them for women.  Completely transforming suit jackets entirely. His last show is probably his most famous, in January 2002, the 65-year-old designer announced his retirement. His decision was based on a disgust with the fashion industry.  It had become ruled more by commercial gain than art. "I have nothing in common with this new world of fashion, which has been reduced to mere window-dressing," he said. "Elegance and beauty have been banished."  With those quotes he made his final runway appearance two weeks later in a one and half hour show that featured more than 250 outfits and 100 models.  Encore anybody?

Different than most designers because Christian Dior didn’t start out in fashion.  He started out with an art gallery sponsored by his family, with one stipulation- that it would not have the Dior family name on it.  Selling works of Picasso, Braque, and Max Jacob, art was his passion.  After some family and financial troubles the art gallery was shut down.  To make ends meet Christian Dior started selling his fashion sketches and then eventually in 1935, being 30 years old he got a job illustrating for the magazine “Figaro Illustre.” Being hired as a design assistant by couturier Robert Piguet, and later by Lucien Lelong  gave him his break into fashion.  Known particularly for the "New Look" of 1947 by having a voluptuous style with narrow shoulders, constricted waist, emphasized bust, and long, wide skirt, his designs were nonfunctional but enormously popular as women abandoned wartime austerity in the post-World War II era. He created the short, waist less sack dress in the early 1950’s and introduced the A-line dress in 1956 as well.  Undoubtedly his achievements speak for themselves in the fashion world today and the awards he received include the Parsons School of Design Distinguished Achievement award in 1956 and the Fashion Industry Foundation award given to the House of Dior in 1990.

 

Prada started not by designing clothes, but by making high-end suitcases, handbags for the Milanese elite and was named the official supplier of the Italian Royal Family in 1919.  That whole company image changed as soon as Miuccia Prada started working for the company.  One of her first designs included fashioning a line of unlabeled handbags out of a then unorthodox fabric called Pocono nylon—the durable water-resistant fabric often used to make military tents.  In 1992 Prada introduced a more affordable fashion line called Miu Miu,. So now everyone can wear a type of Prada, whether it’s called Prada or not.  The person most associated with the Prada brand is Miuccia Prada, she didn’t start the company.  She just took it over and built it into a billion dollar Fashion Empire.  Most importantly, that infamous triangle Prada logo we all know and love was designed by Miuccia Prada as well.  In other words, thank Miuccia for Prada because without her ideas and originality this iconic brand might never have been.

He has his own signature color “Valentino Red.”  How many designers can say that they have their own color that is associated with their name?  Maybe only Christian Louboutin, and that’s about it.  Valentino’s rise to fashion stardom started at a young age. 

 He started apprenticing under local designers and went to study at the famed École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.  From there he started working in the salons of Jean Desses and Guy Laroche.  What’s interesting is that he failed a test to work at Balenciaga, oh how things might have been different if he passed that exam.  Once he met Giancarlo Giammetti in Rome who turned out to be his life and business partner, his brand grew.  In 1962 he debuted his brand and only 5 years later received the prestigious Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1967.  What really grabbed everyone else’s attention was that Jacqueline Kennedy was a friend and a customer of Valentino.  She ordered various dresses from him to wear year round after the passing of her then husband and President of the United States John F. Kennedy.  Valentino also designed Jacqueline Kennedy’s new wedding dress for her new marriage to Aristotle Onassis.  We all know that once one celebrity likes you, other celebrities will like you too, and so it started.  Now Valentino is one of the most recognized labels in the world with his suits and ready to wear lines.  His brand covers most fashion and style product lines with fragrances, jewelry and is sold in major stores like Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Lord and Taylor.

If fashion has an opposites attract story, its Dolce & Gabbana.  Two completely different personalities in all possible ways. Domenico Dolce - a less than average height introvert, and Stefano Gabbana – a tall model type with an outgoing personality.  It’s a perfect combination of yin and yang and fashion has got it in D&G. Their take on fashion is far different from other couture styles in that they take the basics and make them better.  They do not re-invent the wheel with clothing, they upgrade the tires. Their big break came when they signed a deal with Madonna to design costumes for her “The Girlie” tour and it sure turned out alright. They received enormous amounts of recognitions which led other celebrities and industry trendsetters flocking to get their clothing and designs from D&G.  Now D&G offers various product lines from ready to wear, to suits, dresses, bridal, fragrance and also dresses some of Hollywood’s elite.     

One of the most controversial designers in recent history. McQueen always had his opinions about everything, and everyone definitely had their opinions of him.  Whether they loved his detailed craftsmanship and tailoring, or they were completely disgusted by his fashion show and collection presentations and his depiction of women, his style was one of a kind nonetheless.  His start was as a tailor at Anderson and Shephard.  There he mastered how to properly cut and fit jackets, then transitioned to Gieves and Hawkes where he mastered the tailoring and design of pants and bottoms.  Only when he started producing his own collections his notoriety became known.  His runway shows were so unorthodox that people didn’t know how to react.  On one end he depicted women in such a grotesque way, and on the other hand the clothing was so exquisitely made that it was creative design and tailoring perfection. He got the opportunity to be head of design at Givenchy at age 27 but because of his style and unwillingness to back away from his style direction that relationship ended.  Luckily for him Gucci acquired over 50% of his Alexander McQueen brand, backed his designs and gave him the opportunity to be himself.  The brand is widely known now because of that chance that Gucci gave him.  Even after his passing in 2010, his style is still unquestioned and his impact is clearly visible in the brands newest collections.

 A designer who dropped out of NYU, transformed Gucci and YSL and became a movie writer and director. Now that is a made for TV story.  Studying at NYU and then dropping out to go to Parsons School of Design is no easy task.  But neither is being hired as a Chief women’s ready-to-wear designer at Gucci which at that time was a failing company in the fashion industry.  In a few years he was put in charge of design with the title of Creative Director which gave him control over 11 of Gucci’s brands like menswear, fragrances, and eyewear.  Once he transformed them, he did the same with the YSL brand that Gucci had acquired. 2004 was a major year for Tom Ford, he left Gucci after 14 years and started his own label which is a huge hit by the likes of Justin Timberlake.  He also has his own film production company called “Fade to Black.”  Now his looks are of the highest demand on the Red Carpets of Hollywood. Besides dressing A-list actors and actresses he directs them in his movies like “A single Man” that starred Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore.  So whether he is on the runway or the red carpet, either way he is at the top of his career. 

               

 Ralph Lauren is his designer name, his real name was Ralph Lifshitz.  Ralph Lauren changed his name because he was being made fun of in school.  But he now has the last laugh.  Even being a young kid, he had an interest in fashion.  As a student he designed his own ties, wider than the normal tie at that time, and also more colorful.  He sold those ties to various department stores which became huge successes.  Once he designed a short sleeve cotton shirt, now called the “Polo” shirt, his brand and image took off to becoming one of the top designers in history.  The polo shirt was created by Ralph Lauren’s polo line, and hence the name.  He always put tremendous detail into everything to make sure everything was to his standards, and he never said he sold a particular product either, he always said that he sold a way of life.

Polo now makes up much of the space in most department stores and mall outlets, and has product lines that range from his classic and stylish clothes to paints, home collections and also fragrances.  He like anyone else is a collector.  He collects cars and his collection which is one of the most impressive in the world.  His love of the Pony logo goes far beyond clothes, he is also a major philanthropist.  In 1998 his company donated $13 million to the Smithsonian Institution to preserve the original American flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 2001, in cooperation with Sloan-Kettering, he established the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care & Prevention in New York.  With his pony logo on the left chest, he will ride off into the sunset whenever he chooses to do so.           

               

                Born into poverty and having a stage name which later became synonymous with fashion is almost unbelievable in itself.  Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was born that way, she was orphaned as a child, and always seemed to attract wealthy businessmen because she liked and connected with their independence.  That’s how she started, by being financially backed by a wealthy businessman in his home she began to design hats, and later designed female clothing inspired by men’s designs and used “jersey” material.  It was cheaper and was loose fitting compared to the corset style women wore in the 1920’s.  Much of the designs today like tweeds and the chain linked handbags are inspired by Chanel herself.  Her simple style that’s is now applauded was revered back in her days of the 1920’s and 1930’s, and eventually the business failed.  Her resurgence came after WWII when her new designs were being accepted by the masses and this is when she gained her icon status that the company has today.  Even after her passing in 1971 her style still inspires other fashion trends today.  As Chanel was often quoted, "Fashion passes, style remains." Even a woman who has never owned a Chanel piece is likely to have something inspired by the iconic designer.