PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: fashion design

People known for
fashion design
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Kanye West, 2006
American producer, rapper, and designer
Kanye West is an American producer, rapper, and fashion designer who parlayed his production success in the late 1990s and early 2000s into a career as a popular, critically acclaimed solo artist. One...
The one and only
The extravagant designer dressed Marilyn, Elton, and Cher
Bob Mackie was an American costume designer noted for his extravagant and inventive style, characterized by meticulously hand-beaded garments and abundant applications of feathers and rhinestones. His...
Gabrielle (“Coco”) Chanel
French designer
Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer who ruled Parisian haute couture for almost six decades. Her elegantly casual designs inspired women to abandon the complicated, uncomfortable clothes that were...
Sean Combs poses on the red carpet in a white suit at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, with event signage in the background.
American rapper and record producer
Sean Combs is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and clothing designer who founded an entertainment empire in the 1990s. Beginning in 2023, he was the subject of several lawsuits accusing him...
Zendaya poses on the red carpet in a one-shoulder gown with metallic and pink floral details, her hair styled in soft waves.
American actor and singer
Zendaya is an American actor, singer, and dancer who first gained fame for comedic roles on the Disney Channel and later transitioned to more complex and critically acclaimed parts, such as Rue Bennett...
Ralph Lauren at his brand's 2024 fall and holiday women's collection show in New York City
American fashion designer
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer who, by developing his brand around the image of an elite American lifestyle, built one of the world’s most successful fashion empires. Beginning with a line...
Calvin Klein, 2016
American fashion designer
Calvin Klein is an American fashion designer whose name became synonymous with minimalist design and provocative marketing. Over several decades Klein built one of the most influential fashion labels in...
Rei Kawakubo
Japanese fashion designer
Rei Kawakubo is a self-taught Japanese fashion designer known for her avant-garde clothing designs and her high-fashion label, Comme des Garçons (CDG), founded in 1969. Kawakubo’s iconoclastic vision made...
Marc Jacobs, 2017
American fashion designer
Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer known for translating youth subcultures, music, street style, and other elements of popular culture into luxury fashion. He first attracted attention with his...
Pharrell Williams smiles on stage holding a microphone, wearing a white Mickey Mouse 1928 t-shirt and a cap, with red stage lights in the background.
American musician and producer
Pharrell Williams is an American musician who was involved in a number of pop hits as part of the producing team the Neptunes, as a songwriter, as a member of the band N.E.R.D., and as a solo performer....
Valentino
Italian fashion designer
Valentino was an Italian fashion designer known for garments in his trademark “Valentino red” (rosso Valentino) and whose style was described as jet-set chic. Valentino was born Valentino Clemente Ludovico...
Miuccia Prada
Italian fashion designer
Miuccia Prada is an Italian fashion designer who transformed Prada, her grandfather’s leather goods business, into one of the world’s most influential luxury fashion houses. As creative director, she became...
Oscar de la Renta
Dominican-born American fashion designer
Oscar de la Renta was a Dominican-born American fashion designer whose work, blending European luxury with American ease, helped define standards of elegant dressing among socialites, U.S. first ladies,...
Jean Paul Gaultier
French fashion designer
Jean Paul Gaultier is a French fashion designer whose iconoclastic collections in the late 20th and early 21st centuries celebrated androgyny, blended street styles with haute couture, and juxtaposed other...
Diane Von Furstenberg smiling as she walks the runway in a patterned dress with red and orange leaf designs at her fashion show during New York Fashion Week.
Belgian-born designer and businesswoman
Diane von Furstenberg is a Belgian-born designer and businesswoman who made a lasting contribution to fashion design with her flattering but practical wrap dress. Her glamorous public life—as a young princess...
Manolo Blahnik
Spanish fashion designer
Manolo Blahnik is a Spanish fashion designer best known for his signature line of high-end women’s footwear. Blahnik was born the eldest of two children into an affluent family. His Czech father’s family...
Donatella Versace poses in a red off-the-shoulder gown with long wavy blonde hair and gold hoop earrings against a red and yellow backdrop.
Italian fashion designer
Donatella Versace is an Italian fashion designer who became creative director of the luxury brand Versace in 1997, following the death of her brother and founder, Gianni Versace. Her contributions—business...
Hussein Chalayan
Cypriot-British fashion designer
Hussein Chalayan is a Cypriot-British fashion designer best known for infusing intellectual concepts and artistic elements into his designs and shows. Chalayan was born to Muslim parents and attended Turk...
Zac Posen
American fashion designer
Zac Posen is an American fashion designer best known for his glamorous evening gowns and cocktail dresses. Posen was raised in the SoHo neighbourhood of Lower Manhattan. His father, Stephen Posen, was...
Giorgio Armani
Italian fashion designer
Giorgio Armani was an Italian fashion designer whose signature style of relaxed yet luxurious ready-to-wear and elegant, intricately beaded evening wear helped introduce ease and streamlined modernity...
Mizrahi, Isaac
American fashion designer
Isaac Mizrahi is an American fashion designer who is known for provocative clothing designs as well as for his outsize personality on television and in film. He made a career of dressing the Hollywood...
Christian Dior
French designer
Christian Dior was a French fashion designer whose New Look—characterized by ultrafeminine and highly sculptured clothing—dominated fashion in the decade following World War II. His eponymous fashion house...
Tom Ford wearing a black tuxedo with a bow tie and white flower boutonniere, smiling at the Academy Awards with a gold Oscar statue in the background.
American fashion designer and film director
Tom Ford is an American fashion designer and film director who was credited with reviving the fashion house Gucci during his tenure as creative director (1994–2004). In 2005 he started an eponymous line,...
Vera Wang stands with hands on hips, wearing a black sleeveless top and black pants, posing against a plain brown backdrop.
American fashion designer
Vera Wang is an American fashion designer, best known for her elegant and sophisticated wedding dress and haute couture collections. She later branched into other lines, including menswear, jewelry, fragrances,...
Alexander McQueen
British fashion designer
Alexander McQueen was a British designer known for his groundbreaking clothes, shocking catwalk shows, and precise tailoring. McQueen grew up in London’s East End; he was the youngest of six children of...
John Galliano
British fashion designer
John Galliano is a British fashion designer known for historically inspired, technically accomplished clothing presented through dramatic narrative spectacles. His appointments at Dior and Givenchy reflected...
Jimmy Choo
Malaysian fashion designer
Jimmy Choo is a Malaysian shoemaker and fashion designer who cofounded (1996) an eponymous British fashion house known for well-crafted luxury shoes. From a young age, Choo was immersed in the world of...
Gloria Vanderbilt
American author, fashion designer, and socialite
Gloria Vanderbilt was an American socialite, artist, author, actress, and designer of textiles and fashion who was often in the public eye for her social life and professional exploits. Born into the prominent...
Karl Lagerfeld
German fashion designer and photographer
Karl Lagerfeld was a German fashion designer and photographer best known as the creative power behind the modern revival of Chanel, the legendary French fashion house founded by Coco Chanel in the early...
Close-up black and white portrait of Yves Saint Laurent at age 22, wearing glasses and looking slightly to the side, 1958.
French fashion designer
Yves Saint Laurent was a French fashion designer widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century fashion. Rising to prominence at a young age as head designer of the House of Dior,...
Issey Miyake
Japanese fashion designer
Issey Miyake was a Japanese fashion designer who was known for combining Eastern and Western elements in his work. He also had a popular line of fragrances that included L’Eau d’Issey. Miyake studied graphic...
Kate Moss
British model
Kate Moss is a British fashion model whose waifish figure, understated beauty, and seemingly effortless personal style challenged the polished glamor associated with earlier runway stars and became closely...
Browne, Thom
American fashion designer
Thom Browne is an American fashion designer known for his reconceptualization of the classic men’s suit. He became widely recognized for his womenswear after U.S. first lady Michelle Obama wore one of...
Ghesquière, Nicolas
French fashion designer
Nicolas Ghesquière is a French fashion designer who, as creative director of Balenciaga (1997–2012) and as artistic director of Louis Vuitton (2013–), earned a reputation as the most original designer...
Phoebe Philo
British fashion designer
Phoebe Philo is a British fashion designer who developed a loyal following with her modern yet wearable wardrobe essentials. She served as creative director of the French fashion houses Chloé (2001–06)...
Hedi Slimane
French fashion designer and photographer
Hedi Slimane is a French fashion designer and photographer who was known for shaking up the menswear fashion industry by introducing an androgynous skinny silhouette at the turn of the 21st century. Slimane...
Stefano Pilati
Italian fashion designer
Stefano Pilati is an Italian fashion designer who was the creative director (2004–12) at the storied house of fashion, Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), and head of design (2013–16) at Ermenegildo Zegna. As an...
Donna Karan
American designer
Donna Karan is an American designer who is internationally acclaimed for the simplicity and comfort of her clothes. Donna Karan was born in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. Her father...
Madden, Steve
American shoe designer
Steve Madden is an American shoe designer who founded Steven Madden, Ltd., a manufacturer of moderately priced shoes and accessories, marketed mostly to young women and girls. In 2002–05 he was imprisoned...
American fashion designer
Rogan Gregory is an American fashion designer and sculptor known for his environmentally and socially conscious clothing lines. He was perhaps best known as the creative director (2005–07) of Edun. Gregory...
Victoria Beckham
English singer and designer
Victoria Beckham is an English singer and designer who gained stardom in the mid-1990s as a member of the Spice Girls, a pop band that became a cultural phenomenon. Beckham later launched lines of clothing,...
American fashion designer
Bill Blass was an American designer who helped define the relaxed, pared-down elegance that would characterize American fashion in the late 20th century. Blass left home at age 17 to attend the Parsons...
Stella McCartney poses for a headshot, wearing a black jacket with a white abstract design, her straight hair parted in the middle.
British fashion designer
Stella McCartney is a British fashion designer known primarily for her fur-free and leather-free apparel as well as for her celebrity-studded clientele. Stella McCartney was the daughter of Sir Paul McCartney...
Jil Sander
German fashion designer
Jil Sander is a German fashion designer and founder of the Jil Sander label, noted for her luxurious understated clothing and influence on minimalist fashion. Her work depended heavily on exceptionally...
Raf Simons
Belgian fashion designer
Raf Simons is a Belgian fashion designer who worked for various labels, notably serving as creative director of Jil Sander (2005–12), as artistic director of Christian Dior (2012–15), as chief creative...
Christian Louboutin
French designer
Christian Louboutin is a French fashion designer who is best known for his high-end shoes, which are identifiable by their brilliant red soles. As a teenage apprentice in the dressing rooms of the Folies-Bergère,...
Sarah Burton
English fashion designer
Sarah Burton is an English fashion designer who was creative director for the Alexander McQueen label (2010–23) and later for Givenchy (2024– ). Heard studied art at Manchester Polytechnic before attending...
Dame Vivienne Westwood, wearing a plaid shirt and campaign buttons, sits watching rehearsals with a thoughtful expression at London Fashion Week 2016.
British fashion designer
Vivienne Westwood was a British fashion designer known for her provocative clothing. With her partner, Malcolm McLaren, she extended the influence of the 1970s punk music movement into fashion. She was...
Halston with friends at Studio 54
American designer
Halston was an American designer known for his elegant, streamlined fashions. He was widely considered the first superstar designer in the United States, and his clothing defined 1970s American fashion....
Frida Giannini poses on the red carpet in a long, metallic patterned gown at the Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2013 in London.
Italian fashion designer
Frida Giannini is an Italian fashion designer who was the creative director of the world-renowned Gucci fashion house from 2006 to 2015. After studying at Rome’s Academy of Costume and Fashion (Accademia...