Iconic Fashion Ebook

ICONIC FASHION
ENTREPRENEURS
Neri Karra
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the author.
Neri Karra has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs, and Patent Act
as the author of this book.
Parts of this book are published in Neri Karra’s Fashion Entrepreneurship:
Creation of the Global Fashion Business
BOOK DESIGN
Katharine Mugridge
IMAGES
Creative Commons
AUTHOR
Neri Karra
CONTENTS
CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH 6 YVES SAINT LAURENT 57
LOUIS VUITTON 9 MARY QUANT 60
JEANNE PAQUIN 12 ANDRÉ COURRÈGES 63
PAUL POIRET 14 OSCAR DE LA RENTA 65
THOMAS BURBERRY 17 HALSTON 67
GUCCIO GUCCI 19 EMANUEL UNGARO 69
GABRIELLE COCO CHANEL 22 KARL LAGERFELD 71
ELSA SCHIAPARELLI 25 PAUL SMITH 74
JEANNE LANVIN 27 VALENTINO GARAVANI 77
MADELEINE VIONNET 29 GIORGIO ARMANI 79
MAINBOCHER 32 KENZO TAKADA 82
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO 34 ISSEY MIYAKE 84
CHRISTIAN DIOR 37 RALPH LAUREN 87
HATTIE CARNEGIE 40 AZZEDINE Alaïa 89
CLAIRE MCCARDELL 43 VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 91
CHRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA 45 CALVIN KLEIN 93
JACQUES FATH 47 GIANNI VERSACE 95
PIERRE BALMAIN 49 DONNA KARAN 97
EMILIO PUCCI 51 MIUCCIA PRADA 99
PIERRE CARDIN 53 FRANCO MOSCHINO 101
HUBERT DE GIVENCHY 55 IMAGE CREDITS 103
–3–
INTRODUCTION
Fashion is a business worth over a trillion dollars and a source of fascination. Its
impact on other industries and influence on society as a whole is incalculable. In my
book, published with Routledge, I have studied fashion entrepreneurs who created
this fascinating industry. From Charles Worth to Paul Smith, we take a look at the
life of these larger-than-life men and women, whose names are so well known to
us as iconic brands, and some of whose stories we have seen in movies and in
books. What we haven’t done, however, is see them as entrepreneurs who created
businesses, and were not just creative visionaries, but also had entrepreneurial skills
that led to the creation of these iconic brands we know today. I hope this book
showcases their abilities, not just as creative visionaries but also entrepreneurs.
They often come from humble beginnings, and make it despite the odds, and end up
creating not only a name for themselves but work opportunities for many who they
have employed.
One of the most important entrepreneurial capabilities that I have identified in my
book, Fashion Entrepreneurship: Creation of the Global Fashion Business (out in
print in December 2021), is the ability to predict, adapt and respond to cultural
changes that take place. The entrepreneurs that have created iconic brands are the
ones who possess this unique ability, and through their distinct language of style are
able to create clothes that respond to the times. The fashion entrepreneurs in this
book have done exactly that, and have shaken up the fashion world, either by using
different materials, changing proportions, or by introducing an unexpected sartorial
technique. Whatever their different take was, it was bold, and truly unique, and
predicted cultural changes that were taking place. Dior’s New Look, Chanel’s ‘poor’
look, or Mary Quant’s mini dresses seem to come out of nowhere, but they all take
the fashion by storm, and appear at the right time to define the times. Contrary to
popular belief, these styles are not simply a result of pure creativity and inspiration,
but often a direct reflection of the cultural changes taking place. Coco Chanel,
herself, has famously said that the First World War made her, and that in 1920, she
woke up famous. She has always had the right intuition and an impeccable ability
to respond to cultural changes taking place, and she created clothes that reflected
the times. Before Chanel, clothes were elaborate, and even ostentatious with a lot
of detail and decorations, and she simply created the clothes that were extremely
simple, often using jersey and borrowing from men’s fashion to create fashion that
was almost somber. She is said to have made the poor fashionable, and her success
wouldn’t have occurred if it was not for the somber mood that was brought on with
the First World War. Women no longer wanted to dress in corsets, and show their
wealth, when the nation was in mourning.
–4–
INTRODUCTION
The world of fashion relies both on the past and the future – many of the fashion
designers and entrepreneurs borrow from the past, while thinking of the future, and
being focused on creating a new silhouette. Whether they look to the past or the
future, however, one characteristic they share is their ability to have a unique style,
a vision that belongs only to them, and is attributed as their voice. When one sees
an Yves Saint Laurent safari jacket, or a Chanel tweed jacket, or a Dior Bar jacket,
there is a distinct style and a unique voice that belongs only to them. Each of these
iconic fashion entrepreneurs are not afraid to have a point of view and have the
ability to make a definitive decision on the direction they will go.Their unique design
signature is consistent, bold, and also desirable.
The iconic fashion designers in this book are also visionary entrepreneurs who
have shown entrepreneurial skills, such as tenacity, determination, and knowledge of
business. Even Christian Dior, who is considered one of the most iconic and creative
fashion designers of the industry, has emphasized that while creativity is important,
there are figures that talk, and when he designs, he has to be aware of cost, profit,
and has often voiced his concern over the livelihood of many people he employs.
Fashion designers in this book have created some of the most iconic designs and
turned an idea into a fashion phenomenon that is worth billions of dollars. The
popularity of their brand names is indisputable, but what is even more fascinating is
how they have built those businesses. In this book, when I present the iconic fashion
entrepreneurs, I focus on their entrepreneurial capabilities and key success factors
that have led to the creation of brands that have built an entire industry. They are
the creative geniuses, the original thinkers who have made an impact as designers,
as well as entrepreneurs.
–5–
CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH

1825 – 1895, Bourne, Lincolnshire, UK
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6 ––
BACKGROUND
Charles Frederick Worth was born in 1825 to a family of modest background – his
father was a solicitor who abandoned his family of five children and left Worth’s
mother without any financial support and impoverished. Charles started working
at the age of 11 at a printer’s shop, and then moved to London to find a job as an
apprentice and a clerk for two London textile merchants. He would sleep under
the table, and work tirelessly during this time, gaining a thorough knowledge of
fabrics and the business of supplying dressmakers. He had no formal training or even
education. During his spare time, he would spend all his money on visiting museums,
in particular the National Gallery and other collections to study historic portraits.
Elements of the sitters’ dresses in these paintings would later provide inspiration
for Worth’s own designs.
He moved to Paris in 1845, because he loved fashion and thought Paris its capital.
He spoke no French and had only five British pounds in his pocket when he arrived.
While it was a challenge for him to find a job, due to lack of French and connections,
he initially worked at a small dry goods store, and later on progressed to work at
Maison Gagelin, a house that sold cashmere shawls, fabrics, and ready-made coats.
This is where Charles Frederick Worth began to revolutionize the world of fashion.
ENTREPRENEURIAL PROFILE
Like many of the great fashion designer entrepreneurs, Charles Worth came from
humble beginnings and created a product that did not exist in the market. He was a
talented designer, a visionary, and an extremely persuasive salesman. When he was
working at Maison Gagelin, he experimented with textiles and designs, by creating
dresses for the house model, MarieVernet, whom he would later marry.The customers
who frequented the shop included high society women, who would notice Vernet’s
clothes and inquire about them.This interest and demand by customers led to Maison
Gagelin opening a department dedicated solely to dressmaking – a historical first for
a textile retailer. However, they turned down the offer to partner with Worth in the
business, which led him to collaborate with a Swedish businessman to open his own
store in 7, Rue de la Paix. It was not necessarily the most fashionable and recognized
street in Paris, but Worth’s reputation and uniqueness grew the business to 1, 200
employees, with his creations being sold in Russia, America, and the rest of Europe.
–7–
In addition to his unique style and vision as a fashion designer, Worth was also
an innovative entrepreneur, who created a production system which enabled his
venture to manufacture clothes efficiently. He used sewing machines and created
departments for each part of the dress, instead of having one tailor make one dress
(which was the usual way to produce fashion in those days). He also wanted to reach
customers at all price points, and instead of making his products available only to
select few, he focused on strengthening his relationship with department stores, and
even offering paper patterns of his dresses to those who could create them at home.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Worth was a true visionary, and he is rightfully credited as being the founder of haute
couture and the fashion business as we know today. One of his key competencies was
his radical and unique approach to the creation of couture dresses, offering a plethora
of fabrics (some from his former employer Gagelin) and expertise in tailoring.What he
created did not exist before, and he offered something new to women. He also knew
the importance of celebrity and had high profile clients that included Princess Eugene,
the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, and the Astors, to name but a few.The
importance of royal patronage was just as important then as it is today. In fact, when
he had first opened his store in Rue de la Paix and was not yet the celebrated designer
he would become, he and his wife actively sought out to design dresses for Princess
Metternich of Austria. She wore the Worth-designed ball gown to the party given by
Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie, who upon seeing Metternich’s dress demanded to
know the designer. This entrepreneurial characteristic of knowing your customer, and
finding ways to reach him or her, is what brought the royal patronage and eventually
the success to Worth’s fashion house.
He recognized the importance of not only celebrity, but also press, and he formed
a strong relationship with leading fashion editors and journalists. When he passed
away in 1895, Harper’s Bazaar would write that “no painter, no sculptor, no poet, no
actor, no novelist of the past three decades has achieved so widespread a fame as
that of this dressmaker of the Rue de la Paix.”
–8–
LOUIS VUITTON
1821 – 1897, Jura, France
––14
9 ––
LOUIS VUITTON
BACKGROUND
As with many of the most famous fashion entrepreneurs, Louis Vuitton was born in
humble surroundings, the exact opposite of the image of luxury with which his name
would become synonymous. His family were simple people, artisans and farmers,
eking out a living in the mountainous Jura region of eastern France. His father was
a farmer, while his mother, a hat maker, was an example of the sort of small-scale
garment manufacturer characteristic of the pre-industrial age. As with many of the
great fashion entrepreneurs, the young Vuitton’s life bore some similarities to those
described in the fairytales of that era; his mother died when he was just ten, and
he endured an unhappy relationship with his new stepmother. Orphaned at the age
of 14 by the death of his father, the poor boy fled from his strict stepmother and
headed off, on foot, for the big city to make his fortune.
In 1837, after a journey that had lasted two years, Vuitton arrived in a Paris caught
up in the whirlwinds of change caused by the Industrial Revolution. Like many poor
country boys arriving in the urban environment, the young Vuitton found himself
an apprenticeship in a trade. In his case, the trade was trunk making and packing,
and his new master was a successful man, by the name of Monsieur Marechal. The
apprenticeship was to be the making of Louis Vuitton.
As with the vast majority of fashion entrepreneurs, Louis Vuitton came from a
modest background. After losing his parents, he decided to chart his own path, and
set his sights on Paris. When he started working with Monsieur Marechal, he was
dedicated to learning his craft, and soon after starting apprenticing, he was noticed
for his hard work and impeccability. Within a few years, he would gain a reputation
as a master of his craft among the elites of Parisian and French aristocratic society.
It was this reputation, and the quality of his work, that led the Empress of France,
Eugenie de Montijo (the wife of Napoleon III) to hire him as her personal trunkmaker.
Vuitton was responsible for packing her clothes as she moved from palace to
chateau. This appointment gave Vuitton enormous access to an aristocratic and
wealthy clientele, creating a loyal and profitable customer base. At the age of just
33, he opened his own store, and hung up a sign outside that said: “Securely packs
the most fragile objects. Specializing in packing fashions.” His timing was impeccable,
travel for leisure was becoming more popular at the time; the first overseas package
tour in history, operated by Mr. Thomas Cook of Leicester, visited France one year
after Vuitton opened his own business.
– 10 –
LOUIS VUITTON
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Louis Vuitton was an innovator as well as an entrepreneur. He designed the world’s
first pick-proof lock and introduced a rectangular trunk made of waterproof canvas
(at the time, the majority of trunks were round and made of leather). His rectangular
trucks responded to the needs of a new age, they were stackable for ease of transport
on the increasingly popular passenger trains. He also created a signature pattern
called damier, which still defines his brand to this day. He was a visionary but above
all a hard worker. His company would not exist if it were not for his early years of
apprenticing and learning his craft under Monsieur Marechal. Instead of outsourcing
production, he also had the vision to create his own atelier and manufacturing. He
also used technological innovations for the success of his own brand and company.
Another key success factor has to do with Vuitton’s adaptability to change. When
the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, he lost his business, many of his tools
were stolen, and production was halted. Immediately after the war, he rebuilt, but
this time even better, using the unique design and pattern that remains the signature
of his house today.
– 11 –
JEANNE PAQUIN
1869 – 1936, Saint Denis, France
– 14
12 –
JEANNE PAQUIN
BACKGROUND
Jeanne Paquin was born Jeanne Marie Charlotte Beckers in 1869, to a physician father.
She was one of five children.When she was a young teenager, she trained at a dressmaker
on Boulevard Haussman, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become in charge
of the atelier. Even early on, she displayed an eye for fashion, being a talented dressmaker,
as well as having good management skills. In 1891, she married Isidore Rene Jacob, who
owned a couture house called Paquin Lalanne et cie – originally a menswear shop.
Jeanne’s entrepreneurial skillset would be revealed when she started to work with
her husband on the now renamed couture house Paquin. While Isidore was in charge
of business operations, and Jeanne focused on designing and creating clothes, she had
a vision for the business too. Shortly after becoming part of the business, together
with her husband, they opened their first boutique under the name Paquin, rebranded
and renamed, next to the already famed House of Worth, on Rue de la Paix. Jeanne
focused on pastel colors initially, and eventually introduced black as a color in her haute
couture collections. This was unusual for the time because black was only worn during
mourning. Just like Worth, and other fashion entrepreneurs of that age, she also knew
the importance of using celebrity in order to gain publicity and grow the popularity
of her business. She was the first couturier to send models dressed in her apparel to
public events such as operas and horse races for publicity. She also collaborated with
illustrators and architects, as well as working with the theatre, at a time when other
fashion entrepreneurs did not yet do so. She had an entrepreneurial instinct, and the
New York Times described her in 1913 as “the most commercial artist alive.” Jeanne also
was revolutionary in the way she internationalized her business. Paris was indeed a
cosmopolitan city, but she recognized the importance of expanding and growing her
business abroad. She opened boutiques in London (which employed the young Madeline
Vionnet at one point), New York, Buenos Aires, and Madrid.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Jeanne Paquin was known for her modern and innovative style.Alongside Charles Worth,
she is considered to be one of the pioneers of the modern fashion business. She was a
visionary in the way she conducted and ran her business. On one occasion, she took her
clothes on an exhibition tour around the world, charging money for visitors to just view
them. She collaborated with and was a member of the couture institutions in Paris and
recognized the importance of fashion media, securing exclusive deals to provide leading
fashion magazines with her illustrations.
– 13 –
PAUL POIRET
1879 – 1944, Paris, France
– 14 –
PAUL POIRET
BACKGROUND
Paul Poiret was born in 1879, the son of a cloth merchant in the poor Les Halles
neighborhood of Paris. His parents sent him to work at a very young age at the
workshop of an umbrella maker, where he would collect scraps of the silk used for
the umbrellas, to create dresses for his sister’s dolls. As a teenager, he would draw
sketches and sell them to the most prominent fashion houses, and he ended up
being hired by Jacques Doucet. Whilst working for Doucet, he created a red wool
cloak lined in a grey crêpe de Chine that would end up becoming a bestseller for the
house, selling 400 copies. What made him noticed, however, was the black mantel of
tulle over a black taffeta, painted by the famous artist Louis Billotey and worn by the
actress Réjane in a play called Zaza. This combination of art, theater, and celebrity
would later become one of Poiret’s key marketing strategies.
In 1901, Poiret moved to the House of Worth, where he was responsible for
designing simple, practical dresses, described by Gaston Worth (Charles’s son) as
“fried potatoes” because they were considered side dishes to Worth’s main course
of “truffles.” The brazen modernity of his designs, however, proved too much for
Worth’s conservative clientele. The difference of styles and perspectives on fashion
led Poiret to open his own maison.
Poiret exhibited an entrepreneurial spirit at a very young age, personally taking
his sketches of fashionable dresses to the prominent fashion houses of Paris. His
creativity was matched by his capacity to work hard.While Worth may have founded
haute couture, Paul Poiret had a different way of expressing fashion; he was a
pioneering couturier, bringing new vitality to the Parisian scene at the beginning of
the twentieth century. When he personally funded his own fashion house in 1903,
he already had business knowledge from working with Doucet and the House of
Worth. More importantly than that, he was a visionary who foresaw that women
would want to be freed from the constrictive corset. He liberated the body by
eliminating the petticoat and the corset, and he used classical and easy lines such as
those of Greek drapery and the Japanese kimono.
– 15 –
PAUL POIRET
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

He had an acute sense of reading and translating the needs of the society and
creating clothes that would be considered as revolutionary in the early years of
the twentieth century. He was a unique designer who stood out from the rest. He
had an unmatched instinct for marketing and self-publicity, designing flamboyant
window displays, staging his own fashion shows, and throwing sensational parties
to draw attention to his work. His accurate instincts, marketing skills, and business
acumen made him so famous that in 1909, Margot Asquith, the wife of the British
prime minister, invited him to show his designs at 10 Downing Street. He expanded
his success by putting his name to interior designs and fragrances. He was, indeed,
the first French couturier to launch a fragrance, which he named Rosine after his
daughter, and he created publicity for it by organizing the most lavish party in his
own home, complete with lanterns, golden cages, and birds. His entrepreneurial skill
also helped to grow his business in new markets. He travelled extensively to Russia,
Asia, and America – at a time, when it was not easy to do so – and met with some
of the leading figures of fashion, building his brand’s reputation and also becoming
one of the first haute couture entrants in those markets. He was fearless, both in
how he designed clothes and in how he built his business as a visionary fashion
entrepreneur. In 1913, his success had reached America, with The New York Times
calling him “Poiret, Creator of Fashion”.
– 16 –
THOMAS BURBERRY
1835 – 1926, Surrey, England
– 17 –
THOMAS BURBERRY
BACKGROUND
Thomas Burberry was born into a farming community in Surrey, southern England.As
was the case for many fashion entrepreneurs, he came from a modest background.
In his youth he apprenticed at a local draper’s shop. At the age of 21, he opened
his own clothing store in Basingstoke. Initially, he designed and sold clothes that
were for everyday life, but as his store was frequented by clients from rural England
who were keen on fishing, hunting, and horseriding, he began to experiment with
different types of material to meet their needs.
In addition to being celebrated as a successful fashion designer,Thomas Burberry was
an inventor and innovator. As with any good entrepreneur, he recognized the needs
of his customers: which in has meant clothing that would withstand temperamental
climates and fulfill the demands of the country life. He made his name by inventing and
patenting a material that he galled gabardine. It was lightweight, durable, breathable
and performed the way that other heavy materials did. Once he had the patent for
gabardine, he started to sell it wholesale to other fashion businesses, growing his
capital to the extent that he opened stores in London and in Paris.
He was also clever in the use of celebrity endorsement. Explorers who mapped the
Arctic circle, the first aviator who flew between London and Manchester, and the first
person to reach the Arctic Pole all wore something in common: Burberry clothing.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

What made Burberry successful was not only his business and design acumen, but
his ability to observe human nature, ask questions, and understand necessity and
what his customers were looking for. This enabled him to create one of the world’s
first performance fabrics: the gabardine. Following his successful expansion and
clever use of endorsements, he created one of the most timeless items of fashion:
the trench coat, which was worn by army officers in the First World War. While
many fashion businesses had to close at the time, his business was able to succeed.
His style, even today, is associated with Britishness and the signature check, but it
was his innovative mind that led him to create a line of clothing that adapted to the
temperamental climate and fulfilled the needs of people.
– 18 –
GUCCIO GUCCI
1881 – 1953, Italy
– 14
19 –
GUCCIO GUCCI
BACKGROUND
Guccio Gucci was born in 1881 to an impoverished milliner.When he was a teenager,
he left his home in Florence and travelled to London to look for work opportunities.
When he was in London he worked in various jobs, but also as a bellboy in the Savoy
hotel, where he witnessed many of the elite clientele arriving with well-made leather
suitcases. His dream was to return to Italy and start his own company making leather
goods that will blend the English aristocracy with the Italian craftsmanship. When he
returned to Italy, he worked in a leather craftsmanship atelier, called Franzi, where
he learned the art of the leather crafts making.
Just as many of the fashion entrepreneurs in this book, Guccio Gucci also came from
humble beginnings, and had the desire to create a better life for himself. When he
left Italy as a teenager to look for his fortune, his idea was not just to find jobs in
order to make a living, but his early days show an openness to identify a need. He
sees the international and elite clientele of Savoy Hotel, arriving with sophisticated
accessories, and when he witnesses the luggage collection and the leather accessories,
he has the idea to create his own company one day. It is therefore no coincidence
that upon returning to Italy, he starts working in a leather atelier, called Franzi,
and few years after apprenticing there, he starts his own store in Florence. His
early customers are horse-riding nobility, and their demand for the horse-riding
accessories leads to the horse-bit symbol, that is one of the most enduring symbols
of the brand to this day. He is an astute businessman and entrepreneur, who invests
in the growth of his brand, expanding into other products, such as shoes, belts and
wallets, and opening a second store in Rome. When there is shortage of supplies
in the 1940s, he experiments with alternative materials, such as bamboo and linen,
which is in line with sustainability principles. Just as it is the case with the other
fashion entrepreneurs in this book, he expands into the American market, by opening
a store in New York, recognizing that this market has potential for growth.
– 20 –
GUCCIO GUCCI
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Guccio Gucci has an innate ability to first recognize a need in the market and focus
on the needs of the customers. He is a true visionary not only when it comes to
recognizing needs, but also market growth (i.e., expanding internationally into the
American market, and opening Gucci’s first store in New York). He is someone
who invests in quality, as well as experimenting with new materials, and also quickly
introducing new product lines when he recognizes that there will be a demand
for that. Guccio’s innate ability of observation has been one of the key success
factors that created a brand that has stood the test of time. He has introduced
symbols, such as the interlocking double G, the bamboo handle, and the horse bit.
His investment in quality, craftsmanship and exclusivity has helped the brand to
grow from a small Florentine saddlery shop to an iconic brand that is recognized
and desired worldwide.
– 21 –
GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL

1883 – 1971, Saumur, France
– 22 –
BACKGROUND
Chanel was born in rural France in a poor house hospice, one of six children. Her
mother died when she was only 12 years old, and her father dropped his three
daughters in the grounds of an orphanage and disappeared. Despite the challenging
circumstances and the odds stacked against her, she remained optimistic and
resolved to take control of her life as soon as she could. She learned how to sew in
the orphanage, and when she left, she found a job as a seamstress and, in order to
support herself, sang in bars.
The desire and ambition to create a better life for herself and survive despite the odds
is an entrepreneurial characteristic that formed the business of Coco Chanel. After
working in different jobs, as a singer and seamstress, and even being a kept woman
of a notable businessman of the time, Coco met Arthur “Boy” Capel, who agreed to
finance her millinery shop, which opened in 1910 in a tiny street called rue Cambon.
She was good at what she did, but most importantly she was not happy with the
extravagant way of dressing post-war and created a style that captured the moment
and the time. Women responded to her dresses and knitwear which borrowed from
the ease and casualness of men’s wardrobe. She expanded to sportswear in 1913,
couture in Biarritz and Paris. She formulated the iconic Chanel No:5, where she used
clever publicity and marketing, heralding it to become a bestseller as well as carrying
her name and success to other markets, with her opening her first fashion house in
London in 1927. Hollywood followed with her being asked to create costumes for
Gloria Swanson. When the war broke out in 1939, she closed her operations and
went into retirement. She could have kept the doors of her fashion house closed,
but her decision to reopen after the war ended and start anew is one of the main
reasons why Chanel has lived until today, and her style and brand name continue to
be celebrated. She was the one to adapt fastest to change and never gave up.
– 23 –
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Her great strength was her ability to read the times and the moods that changed
them — and usually do so before anyone else did. She was a true catalyst for fashion
change, despite not being a very original creator. As the century morphed into the
‘20s, Chanel was acknowledged as one of the great fashion leaders not only in Paris,
but across the globe. Her style and palette seem as modern today as they did then:
chic and sporty during the day, based on crisp, flattering linearity, and romantic at
night. It is often forgotten that in the ‘20s and ‘30s, she created feminine evening
dresses of lace that gave women as much authority as her daywear did. She went
against convention by borrowing from men’s clothing and created a modern and
powerful woman who would feel free and comfortable in her clothes, instead of
dressing for someone else.
– 24 –
ELSA SCHIAPARELLI
1890 – 1973, Rome, Italy
– 25 –
ELSA SCHIAPARELLI
BACKGROUND
Elsa Schiaparelli was a visionary and a talented designer, who broke the boundaries of
fashion. She was born in Rome to an aristocratic family, but she was dissatisfied with
a lifestyle that was comfortable, but stifling, cloistered and unfulfilling. She travelled to
Paris, lived in New York, and after divorcing her husband, worked as a translator and a
seamstress to make ends meet.
Schiaparelli was a very sociable, gregarious woman who was open to life.This particular
characteristic allowed her to meet and become friends with Marcel Duchamp, Man
Ray, Paul Poiret, and Francis Picabia. When she moved to Paris, it was Paul Poiret who
encouraged her to open her own atelier, and she did so on the rue de Seine, designing
knitwear and sportswear. It was the right trend, and the right product for the time. She
had many notable designs, with one of them being the wrap dress (a great influence
on Diane von Furstenberg, who used it as the backbone of her own venture), as well
as techniques of incorporating zips into a series of separates and popularizing the
fastener in the context of high fashion. Her business was successful, thanks to her ability
to choose the right collaboration, coupled with her unique vision and style. However,
after the war, fashion changed; a new type of designer and a new look was emerging
(Christian Dior with his New Look), and Schiaparelli struggled in the austerity of the
post-war period. She discontinued her couture business in 1951, and finally closed her
heavily indebted design house in December 1954, the same year that her great rival
Coco Chanel returned to the business.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Elsa Schiaparelli had a tremendous imagination, and she was not afraid to turn a shoe
into a hat or acrobats into buttons. She was heavily influenced by art in her creations, as
she was close friends with Man Ray, Christian Bérard, Salvador Dali, and Jean Cocteau.
She did not have a formal training of pattern making and clothing construction, but was
encouraged by Paul Poiret, who she called a dear friend and mentor, to transform her
love of knitwear into a collection of trompe-l’oeil images and double-layered stitching.
One of her key success factors was her network, her friendly and outgoing nature
allowed her to be in the right circle, but this was not sufficient to put her name on
the map as one of the most successful and influential designers. Her successes can
be attributed to her unique vision, collaborative work with artists including Dali and
Cocteau, and the astute business sense that led her to diversify into lingerie, sunglasses,
interior design, and handbags. She embraced innovation and in 1937 introduced a
signature color, called ‘shocking pink’, the first designer to do so.
– 26 –
JEANNE LANVIN
– 14
27 –
JEANNE LANVIN
BACKGROUND
Jeanne Lanvin was born in 1867, the eldest of 10 children. Her father was a journalist.
Aged 13, she became a dressmaker’s errand girl. Her teens were spent as an
apprentice milliner, from which she moved up to be a dressmaker’s assistant before
she felt ready to work for herself.
At the age of 18, after securing an investment from a wealthy client, Lanvin opened
her own millinery shop in rue du Marché-Saint-Honoré. It was the clothes she designed
for her daughter that resulted in demand from her clients. She ended up creating
mother-daughter versions of outfits, which differentiated her business in the market.
She focused on romance and on clothes that made women feel beautiful.
Lanvin was not just a designer, but also a very smart businesswoman who knew how
to place herself in the burgeoning couture market of the early 1920s. Interested in
medieval and Renaissance art, along with Egypt and antiquity, she created a soft but
vibrant blue, guaranteed to flatter most skin and hair types. Called “Fra Angelico
blue,” it became almost a trademark. She later on expanded her lines to include
interior design, lingerie, sportswear, menswear, and beauty. But her biggest success
in extending her brand name came from the perfume she created, called Arpage.
Unsurprisingly, the bottle featured a mother and a daughter. She used press and
celebrity cleverly, with clientele that included the queens of Romania and Italy and
actresses Marlene Dietrich and Mary Pickford.
The house of Lanvin remains the oldest French fashion house still in existence.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

In addition to her business skills, and her ability to grow her fashion house with
smart line extensions, the key differentiator was her style. In the 1920s, as the haute
couture market was booming, she made a name for herself because of her distinct
style of romanticism. Her signature of subtlety and femininity were underlined by
inventive embellishments. She added decorative effects to her clothes (unlike Chanel,
who pared down) in the form of flowers, ruffles, embroideries, roses, appliques,
quilting and free flowing ribbons. Called the fairy godmother of jeune fille, she
combined sophisticated fabrics with an air of youthful refinement.
– 28 –
MADELEINE VIONNET
1876 – 1975 , Loiret, France
– 14
29 –
MADELEINE VIONNET
BACKGROUND
Born on 22 June 1876 into a poor family in Chilleurs-aux-Bois, Loiret,Vionnet moved
with her father to Aubervilliers at the age of five. Having already left school,Vionnet
began her apprenticeship at age twelve as a seamstress. After a brief marriage at
age 18, she left her husband and went to London to work as a hospital seamstress.
While in London, Vionnet worked as a fitter for the celebrated British dressmaker
Kate Reily.
Vionnet was only 17 years old, when she joined the House of Vincent in Paris, and
within two years she became the head seamstress. Later, she worked for Callot
Souers and Jacques Doucet. She often clashed with other designers who employed
her because she had a style and vision that was different from theirs. For instance,
at Jacques Doucet she used barefoot models and loose garments, which was not
in line with the house’s style. Eventually, she set up her own salon when she was
36 years old. However, the timing coincided with the outbreak of the First World
War, which led her to close the businesses. She reopened after the war with a new
look and a logo designed by the Italian Futurist artist Thayaht. She was not only
a talented designer but also an astute business owner, who has 21 workshops and
pioneered practices such as providing dental and medical care, dining, and childcare
facilities. She launched her first fragrance by using single letters, echoing her modern
approach to fashion. She refused to sell her name and, despite having 21 ateliers, and
a thriving business, she liquidated her assets, and donated they vast majority of her
archive to the Union Francaise des Arts du Costume.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Alongside Coco Chanel, Vionnet is credited with a move away from stiff, formalized
clothing to sleeker, softer clothes. Unlike her rival Chanel, Vionnet did not seek
publicity and did not use her social network in order to further her business. In fact,
she often remarked how much she disliked fashion with its seasonality and need to
discard and create anew. She did, however, benefit immensely from the support of
entrepreneur Theophile Bader, the co-founder of Galeries Lafayette, who played a
decisive role in helping her business to grow and succeed.
– 30 –
MADELEINE VIONNET
In her designs, Vionnet eliminated everything except the finest fabric and the most
exquisite cut, an approach that would influence generations of designers to come.
She dispensed with the standard elements of accentuation and instead celebrated
the female form. She was inspired by Greek drapery and modern dance, and she
believed in fluidity and freedom of movement. Her key differentiation point and
success factor was indeed her design, which looked uncomplicated on the surface
but revealed a true genius. Her trademark – the bias cut – was her basis for these
designs, and it made her one of the most celebrated designers, despite her not using
marketing or publicity techniques. Her style and design answered to a demand that
many women wanted and appreciated. Issey Miyake once remarked that on seeing
Vionnet’s work for the first time, “the impression was similar to the wonder one
feels at the sight of a woman emerging from bathing, draped only in a single piece of
beautiful cloth.”
– 31 –
MAINBOCHER
1890 – 1976, United States
– 14
32 –
MAINBOCHER
BACKGROUND
Born as Main Rousseau Bocher in Chicago, he studies at the Lewis Institute, now the
Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and serves in intelligence during the First World War,
where he was based in Paris. Once the war ended, he remained in Paris, and started
working as a fashion illustrator for Harper’s Bazaar, and eventually as an editor and
editor-in-chief of the French edition of Vogue magazine. His decision to become a
fashion designer grew out of his years as the editor of Vogue, realizing he had a keen
eye for fashion.
Known as Mainbocher, the designer defined the post-war American fashion. His
experience with fashion started when he was a fashion illustrator, and then became
the fashion editor and eventually editor-in-chief of Parisian Vogue. His favorite
designer was Madeleine Vionnet, and he noticed he had a keen eye for fashion, as well
as an educated eye having studied at the Lewis Institute. With the financial backing
of investors, he opened his fashion house on 12 Avenue George V, in 1929, and his
success was almost immediate. He had a key signature style, with the infamous
Mainbocher corset, that has been famously photographed by Horst P. Horst. In 1940,
with the start of the Second World War, he relocated in America, where despite the
war, fashion industry was booming, and he dressed the elite of Manhattan society, as
well as celebrities. His most famous client was Wallis Simpson, who chose to wear
Mainbocher for her wedding to Duke of Windsor. His price points were the highest
of any fashion designer at the time.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Just as he was able to identify himself, Mainbocher’s key success factor was his keen
sense of fashion, having an eye and innate understanding of the fashion industry. He
was an American, who studied fine art, lived and worked in Paris for many years,
which allowed him to know what the global fashion clientele wanted. When he
moved to America, he became even more successful, and especially at a time, when
other fashion entrepreneurs struggled. He had a celebrity clientele, that he knew
how to nurture, and knew the way the fashion system, particularly communication
worked, and this allowed for the longevity and success of his brand. He closed his
New York salon after 40 years in business and donated his collection of drawings to
the New York Metropolitan Museum.
– 33 –
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
1898 – 1960, Bonito, Italy
– 14
34 –
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
BACKGROUND
Born to a poor family as the 11th of 14 children, Salvatore did not go to school,
as it was the norm during those years. He was 9 years old when he made his first
shoe for his sister’s communion, and knew as early as then, that he had found his
calling. He studied shoe making in Naples, and even opened a small shoe store in his
parents’ home. In 1914, he immigrated to Boston, to join his brother, who worked
at a shoe factory. He was already an accomplished shoemaker at the time and had
bigger dreams than working at a factory. He convinced his brother to move to
Hollywood, and open their own shoe making atelier.
Ferragamo had the vision and determination from a very young age about what he
wanted to do in life. When he immigrated to United States, he did not only want
to work at a shoe factory, but his aim was always to be where the stars were – in
Hollywood.When he was told his shoes were beautiful to look at, but uncomfortable
to wear, he went to University of Southern California to study anatomy. He was
determined and relentless in creating a beautiful, but also comfortable to wear shoes.
After 13 years in America, he decided to return to his homeland, and opened a shop
in Florence. He already had an impressive list of celebrity clientele, which included
the infamous names such as Eva Peron and Marilyn Monroe. Just like Guccio Gucci,
he also experimented with alternative material, such as wine corks, which showed
he was an innovator and a visionary. Just as it is in the nature of entrepreneurship, he
faced financial challenges during the Great Depression, and had to file for bankruptcy.
In 1938, he reopened his business once again, and this time, having learned the
lessons from his failure, and he would end up hiring 700 artisans, producing 350
pairs of shoes per day. He opened a boutique on Park Avenue, further cementing
his status as the shoemaker of the stars. He collaborated with other fellow fashion
designers, such as Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaparelli.
– 35 –
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Ferragamo was relentless when it came to creating beautiful and desirable shoes
that were also comfortable. He also knew very early on the power of celebrity, and
hence the decision to want to move to Hollywood and open a small shoe repair and
a made-to-measure shop. Eventually, the celebrity clientele followed, but it was also
Salvatore Ferragamo’s pursuit of such customers. He was an innovator, who created
revolutionary designs, and his flat ballerina pump that he made for Audrey Hepburn
will come to define the shoe industry to this day. More than just a designer, he was
an inventor who had more than 20,000 models in his shoe library and held over 350
patents, some of which are the cork wedge, the ballerina flat, and the gloved arch.
– 36 –
CHRISTIAN DIOR
1905 – 1957, Granville, France
– 14
37 –
CHRISTIAN DIOR
BACKGROUND
Christian Dior was born in Granville, a seaside town in Normandy, to a well-to-do
family.When he was five years old, the family moved to Paris, but they would return to
Granville every summer. His family hoped he will grow up to be a diplomat, but he was
too interested in the creative arts, and started to sell his fashion sketches to fashion
houses. His interest in art led him to open an art gallery with his friend, with Dior’s
father financing, where they sold Pablo Picasso and various other renowned artists.
During the Great Depression, his father’s business suffered, and eventually, Dior had
to close the art gallery and designed for Robert Piguet, who was transformational for
Dior’s career as a designer. When the war broke out, he was called to the army and
upon his return, he started working at the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, who played
a key role in keeping the French fashion industry in France, instead of it moving to
Germany, during the Second World War. After the war ended, Christian Dior started
his own brand in 1946, backed by the financier Marcel Boussac. When he presented
his first collection – the celebrated New Look – it was transformational for the
entire industry, and enough to secure Dior’s position as a legendary fashion designer.
While not obvious to those who speak or read about Dior, one could argue that
he showed an entrepreneurial spirit at a very young age; in front of his house, he
sold his fashion sketches for 10 centimes each. Later he opened an art gallery with a
friend, and approach Robert Piquet in order to design for him. While not obvious at
the outset, these are characteristics of a fashion entrepreneur. Later on, he became
the renowned designer of the New Look, which came to define an era and revive
the French fashion industry. These are synonymous with entrepreneurship: having
a vision, taking risks, daring to do something different. He was a self-proclaimed
introvert and did not court publicity, but he had an astute awareness of how fashion
industry worked, understanding, crucially, that fashion is a business. He worked
closely with his suppliers, couturiers, and finance people in his brand, and ensured
that every creative decision also made sense financially. A creative vision and an
astute business mind put Dior on the map of fashion as an iconic fashion designer.
– 38 –
CHRISTIAN DIOR
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Dior had an acute understanding of what women wanted. He famously said, I brought
back the neglected art of pleasing, and created a look that stunned the public and
grabbed the attention of key fashion figures. He was a bold risk taker, who believed
in his vision and did not hold back when executing it. As Time magazine reported,
“never in the history of fashion had a single designer made such a revolution in his
first showing.” A decade later, he was featured on the cover of the magazine. His
ability to be a creative visionary while also paying attention to financial figures and
understanding that fashion after all is a business allowed his brand to succeed and
survive for generations to come.
– 39 –
HATTIE CARNEGIE
1886 – 1956,Vienna, Austria-Hungary
– 14
40 –
HATTIE CARNEGIE
BACKGROUND
Hattie Carnegie was born in Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to
a poor Jewish family. Her family would immigrate to the United States and settle
in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was the second of seven children, and in
addition to the challenging life of being an immigrant, she would also lose her father
as a young girl and find herself in a position in which she was required to support
her family. Aged only 13, she found a job as a messenger at Macy’s department store.
When she was 15, she worked for a millinery manufacturer where she modelled and
trimmed hats. At the age of 20, she had decided to change her name to Hattie (from
Hannah) and take on the last name of Carnegie, as a homage to Andrew Carnegie,
the richest man in America at the time. Just like many other fashion entrepreneurs,
she had the desire to create a different life, a better story for herself, and the name
change is an indication of that.
Building on her own experience of working at the milliner store, she decided to
launch her own business in partnership with Rose Roth, who was a dressmaker.
After a few years, Roth left the business, leaving Hattie Carnegie as the sole owner
of the company. Carnegie was a smart businesswoman and had run the business
successfully enough to have a good working capital, which allowed her to travel to
Paris to buy the dresses of renowned French designers and start making copies
under her own brand. By 1929, her business had sales of $3.5 million a year. Her
astute business skills and entrepreneurial vision proved successful once more during
the Great Depression, when she decided to create an accessibly priced line, called
Spectator Sports. She was the first fashion entrepreneur to recognize the importance
of a second, less expensive line. She also expanded into fashion accessories, such
as bags, furs, hats, and cosmetics and even launched her own brand of chocolate.
In addition to her success as a fashion entrepreneur, she also had picked a then
unknown model, Lucille Ball, who credited Hattie Carnegie for teaching her how
to pose. Even after she became a famous actress, Lucille Ball continued to support
Carnegie. Despite not having any formal training as a fashion designer and not
knowing how to sew, draw, or cut, Carnegie had an unmatched ability in the skill that
any fashion entrepreneur needs to have: recognizing and responding to needs in the
market. She advanced this skill later on, as her company would become what today is
known as a venture capitalist firm. She discovered and launched the careers of many
renowned American fashion designers, such as Norman Norell, Pauline Trigere, Jean
Lous, James Galanos, and Clare McCardell.
– 41 –
HATTIE CARNEGIE
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

In addition to her entrepreneurial skills, Carnegie’s key defining style was the
Carnegie Suit. It was an exercise in sophisticated tailoring and praised for its
designer’s immaculate execution. It featured the signature Carnegie blue, and while it
still had the hallmarks of the wartime figure, with its long silhouette, it also featured
color and a feminine silhouette. Carnegie was very much in tune with the changes
taking place and knew what her customer wanted. She wanted to give the American
women clothing that they could afford and that they would feel beautiful in, while
also having practicality. Her vision of knowing her customer and creating products
accordingly cemented the success of Hattie Carnegie.
– 42 –
CLAIRE MCCARDELL
1905 – 1958, Maryland, United States
– 14
43 –
CLAIRE MCCARDELL
BACKGROUND
Born in Maryland, to a southern-belle mother and a banker father, Claire McCardell
was a self-confessed tomboy who applied the principles of fitness and sports to
her design approach. She attended Parsons school of Design, and specialized in
illustration, and in her second year, she came to the school’s Paris branch. When
she returned to New York, she worked with the designer Robert Turk, and worked
briefly with Hattie Carnegie as well.
When Claire McCardell started working with other American fashion designers,
after her graduation, she was opposed to the fact of copying Parisian designers’
work, which was very common approach at the time. After stints with Robert Turk
and Hattie Carnegie, she decided to launch her own line of fashion separates, which
was a new phenomenon. She blurred boundaries between high end fashion and
everyday wear and is one of the first designers to do so. She had an innovative and
a completely unique way of designing fashion, and had a very pragmatic approach,
where women should move freely in their clothes. She is considered a precursor to
Donna Karan, who will also emphasize ease of wear and practicality in fashion. In
1942, McCardell will become an established designer who sold more than 75.000
pieces of her denim Popover dress and earned the praise of fashion insiders. She
will come to define the post-war era of American fashion and encourage women to
dress more freely.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Her groundbreaking approach was adding functionality and practicality to fashion.
She was pragmatic and had a keen eye for what women wanted. She was influenced
by Madeleine Vionnet, and Claire McCardell will come to influence many other
designers, many of whom she mentored under her fashion business. She is credited
with creating an all-American wardrobe and style, and her key success factor was
creating clothes that she would like to wear.
– 44 –
CRISTÓBAL BALENCIAGA
1895 – 1972, Getaria, Spain
– 14
45 –
CRISTÓBAL BALENCIAGA
BACKGROUND
Balenciaga was born in a small fishing village of Getaria to a father who was a
ferryboat captain, and a seamstress mother. He was also an altar boy growing up,
and it is said that his mother’s profession had an influence on his future as a fashion
designer. When he was still living with his parents, he started to sew for others,
and his first wealthy client, Marquessa de Casa Torres, was the one to support him
financially enabling to leave grammar school and move to Madrid to study tailoring.
Balenciaga has caught the eye of not only his wealthy clientele, but of the fashion
world when he first came to Paris in 1937 to open his boutique. Before Paris, he
was already an established designer in his hometown, but had to close his store
in San Sebastian, when the Spanish War started. In Paris, he found immediate
success but also recognition from his peers, who praised his sophisticated style that
respected proportion and was precise. He was a designer’s designer and a complete
perfectionist. He had a clear understanding of who his ideal customer was and will
cherry-pick his clients. He also nurtured young designers at the time, such as Hubert
de Givenchy, who will become his protégé, as well as Emmanuel Ungaro and André
Courrèges. His entrepreneurial skill laid in his unique visual style that respected
form and fabric and created a silhouette that was undeniably his.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Balenciaga is considered one of the most talented fashion designers, and has been
revered by Coco Chanel and Christian Dior, who respected his technique and
skill. He had an unmatched eye for proportion, and his key success factor was in
respecting both fabric and form.
– 46 –
JACQUES FATH
– 14
47 –
JACQUES FATH
Background
The son of André Fath, an Alsatian-Flemish insurance agent, Jacques Fath came
from a creative family. His paternal great-grandparents, Caroline and Georges Fath,
were fashion illustrators and writers, and his paternal grandfather was a landscape
painter. Unlike the other fashion entrepreneurs in this book, Fath had a relatively
affluent upbringing, and grew up in a family of intellectuals and creatives. In fact, he
grew up learning about art and history, and would attend many museums and art
galleries with his family – a habit that would come to influence him to become a
fashion entrepreneur.
Jacques Fath did not study fashion, but had a keen understanding and exposure to
the world of art and creativity, and learned about fashion from books. He was a self-
taught designer, who started his own venture from a small studio on Rue de la Boetie
and hired well known designers to apprentice with him – Hubert de Givenchy, Guy
Laroche and Valentino Garavani. He was a popular designer, particularly known for
dressing the young Parisienne, and had the ability to add seductiveness to fashion.
He appealed to the Parisian socialites, as well as the American celebrities and the
jetsetters. He had a keen understanding of what his customers wanted, and while his
contemporaries were focused on creating new silhouettes, he was more concerned
with styling and courting new clients. When he was drafted as a gunner during the
Second World War, and after the war, he was one of the few fashion entrepreneurs to
restart his business, and continue his operations from he left off, and set his sights on
a newly booming market: America. While he was not established and well-known by
the American consumers, as well as the other Parisian designers, he still secured a deal
to produce ready-to-wear cline with the Seventh Avenue manufacturer, called Joseph
Halpert. He dressed Rita Hayworth, when she married Prince Ali Khan.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Jacques Fath’s trademarks were his slender cut waist and fitted bodice that
emphasized feminine curves, and made women look sexy. He had the ability to add
seductiveness to fashion, and similar to Christian Dior made the feminine form be
the centerstage in his creations. He was not schooled in fashion design, but he did
not let that hold him back from becoming a fashion entrepreneur, and eventually
proving that he had a keen eye for fashion and talent, by employing young fashion
designers, who will eventually make their mark in the industry. He courted press and
had a good understanding of the communication process that fashion depended on,
eventually dressing the Parisian elite, Hollywood celebrities such as Rita Hayworth,
being in the pages of leading fashion magazines.
– 48 –
PIERRE BALMAIN
1914 – 1982, Savoie, France
– 14
49 –
PIERRE BALMAIN
BACKGROUND
Balmain’s father, who died when the future designer was seven years old, was the
owner of a wholesale drapery business. His mother Françoise ran a fashion boutique
called Galeries Parisiennes with her sisters, and would dress young Pierre Balmain
in flamboyant outfits. He went to school at Chambery and his interest in couture
fashion was inspired by society women he met when growing up. Balmain began
studying architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1933, as well as working as a
freelance fashion designer to Robert Piquet. He will end up working for Dior, as well
as Lelong, and in 1943, the dress he will gain fame as a fashion designer, when the
dress he designed for Lelong will become a bestseller.
Balmain started his own company in October 1945, a month after his dresses were
photographed by Cecil Beaton for Vogue. His success was almost immediate and
having already gained experience working with Lelong and Christian Dior, he was
well known among the fashion editors. Soon, the demand from clientele followed
and his name was on the map as a successful fashion designer. He was a trained
architect, and this reflected in the way he designed, but also conducted his business.
It was meticulous and well thought out.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Spoken in the same breath as some of the greatest designers of his time, Pierre
Balmain had trained as an architect, and had a great eye for proportion and scale.This
reflected in his impeccable design. When we look back at the way he approached
design, we see the similarity of how he also ran his business. His key success factor
was more about evolution and taking small and steady steps in his venture. First, he
gained experience by working as an apprentice to some of the most well-known
designers of the time, and learning about fashion design, but also about the fashion
business. When he opened his own atelier in 1945, his success was almost meteoric,
but only because he took many years to build it.
– 50 –
EMILIO PUCCI
1914 – 1992, Florence, Italy
– 14
51 –
EMILIO PUCCI
BACKGROUND
Emilio Pucci was born to an aristocratic Italian family, and lived and worked in the
14th century Palazzo Pucci for most of his life. With a lineage that stretches back to
the Renaissance, he had the perfect pedigree for fashion, as he would start designing
for an elite clientele that jet-setted around the world.
As Emilio Pucci himself described, he became a fashion designer and an entrepreneur
almost by accident. He was skiing in Switzerland, when Toni Frissel – a Harper’s
Bazaar fashion photographer liked Pucci’s ski outfit and asked to photograph it.
When she discovered, it was Pucci himself who designed it, she commissioned him to
design a capsule collection that appeared in the Winter 1948 issue of the magazine.
The design caused an absolute sensation in the fashion world, and the demand for
his creations was almost immediate. He set up his first studio in Capri and started
to also design swimwear. In 5 years, his name will be in demand, particularly by
the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Lauren. While he was almost an accidental
fashion entrepreneur, he showed a great instinct that is a characteristic of many of
the fashion designers, and an ability to recognize that fashion is also a business.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Pucci personified the 1950s Florentine chic, with his vivid color, psychedelic color
composition and swirls. He had an impeccable understanding and use of color, and
a unique symbolic language that has established Pucci as a brand. He was not just
creative, but also very intellectual when it came to designing. He had an ability to
place pattern in the correct proportions, without having had any training for it. He
is said to go tough days and weeks before selecting the right color and pattern for
his design, only picking 16 colors out of a palette of 80.
– 52 –
PIERRE CARDIN
1922 – 2021, Treviso, Italy
– 14
53 –
PIERRE CARDIN
BACKGROUND
Pierre Cardin was born in Italy, to a wealthy wine merchants, but his family will
end up losing their fortune during the First World War, and end up immigrating to
France together with their ten children. While his father wished that he would study
architecture, Pierre Cardin showed great interest in fashion even from an early age.
He studied in central France and began his career at the age of fourteen when he
did an apprenticeship at a clothier in order to learn about making apparel. He left
his home in 1939 to work in Vichy under a tailor.
Pierre Cardin moved to Paris in 1945, and worked for Jeanne Paquin, and then with
Elsa Schiaparelli. Despite interviewing several times, he was rejected to work with
his hero, Balenciaga, but will eventually end up working with Christian Dior, and will
apprentice on the New Look of 1947. By the time he was 28 years old, Cardin had
set up his own label, presenting his haute couture collection followed by ready-to-
wear. He was a futurist from the onset and created a fashion business model that
will become the template for the industry today. Cardin is the first designer to put a
designer’s name on virtually any consumer product – from furniture to a hairdryer.
He was a true fashion entrepreneur in the sense to reinvent the way fashion was
consumed. He signed his first men’s shirts and ties licensing contract in 1956, and a
decade later contract with Cadillac, private jets and boats. He is the first European
designer to open a showroom in China, and launch his brand in post-Soviet Union,
despite the volatile and uncertain market at the time.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Pierre Cardin was a true visionary, and known to be a futurist designer, and he
designed for the world of tomorrow, rather than looking back to the past. This is
also one of his key success factors, when it came to putting his name on almost
every product imaginable, creating a fashion empire that included anything from
clothing to cigarettes, thereby, creating an entirely different business model for the
fashion industry.
– 54 –
HUBERT DE GIVENCHY
1927 – 2018, Beauvais, France
– 55 –
HUBERT DE GIVENCHY
BACKGROUND
Count Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy was born in Beauvais, Oise into a Protestant
family. He was the younger son of Lucien Taffin de Givenchy, Marquis of Givenchy,
and his wife, Béatrice Badin. The Taffin de Givenchy family, which traces its roots to
Venice, Italy was ennobled in 1713, at which time the head of the family became
Marquis of Givenchy. He had an elder brother, Jean-Claude de Givenchy (1925–
2009), who inherited the family’s marquessate and eventually became the president
of Parfums Givenchy.
After his father’s death from influenza in 1930, he was raised by his mother and maternal
grandmother, whose husband was the owner and director of the historic Gobelins
Manufactory and Beauvais tapestry factories. Artistic professions ran in the extended
Badin family. Givenchy’s maternal great-grandfather, Jules Dieterle, was a set designer
who also created designs for the Beauvais factory, including a set of 13 designs for the
Elysée Palace. One of his great-great-grandfathers also designed sets for the Paris Opera
He moved to Paris at the age of 17, and he studied at the prestigious Ecole des
Beaux-Arts.
Hubert de Givenchy started his own fashion brand in 1952, and for seven years
prior to that, he worked as an apprentice at Jacques Fath, Robert Piquet, Lelong
and Elsa Schiaparelli. When he launched his brand, he also launched a unique idea of
separates. Success was quick to follow, and his biggest rise to fame was when he was
invited to dress Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, and all the movies that followed after.
She has always stated that she felt most comfortable in Givenchy’s clothes. She will
become a lifelong client, and the working relationship will extend off camera too.
In addition to Audrey Hepburn, Givenchy’s celebrity clientele included Maria Callas,
Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the Duchess of Windsor.
The infamous celebrity roster helped the brand to become successful, but it was
Givenchy’s elegant designs that kept it successful, and desired by the Parisian and
international clientele.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Givenchy was the epitome of chic and elegance. He focused on creating the most
beautiful clothes, and while financial figures were of secondary importance to him, the
House was still financially successful. His keywords were perfection, understatement,
and refinement. He defined an era where elegance was of outmost importance.
– 56 –
YVES SAINT LAURENT

1936 – 2008, Oran, Algeria
– 57 –
YVES SAINT LAURENT
BACKGROUND
Born in 1936 in Oran, Algeria, to a French family,Yves Saint Laurent, grew up in a villa
with his two sisters by the Mediterranean. Even in his childhood, he had a sensitive,
fragile look, and a shy manner. He would create paper dolls, and by his teen years,
started designing dresses for his mother and sisters. At the age of 17, fascinated by
fashion, he moved to Paris and enrolled in the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la
Haute Couture, where his talent was immediately noticed.The editor of French Vogue,
Michel de Brunhoff, introduced Saint Laurent to Christian Dior, who hired him on
the spot to work in his fashion house. Although Dior recognized Saint Laurent’s
talent immediately, he ended up working on smaller tasks, some of which included
decorating the studio.
While Saint Laurent was an incredibly talented fashion designer, his entrepreneurial
skills were supported by his partner Pierre Bergé. It is a business model that has been
proven to be successful among other fashion designers (partnering with someone
who knows the business side of fashion, while the talent is left to do what he or
she knows best). While Saint Laurent is celebrated for his talent as a designer, and
Bergé has been credited for the success (as well as being criticized for controlling
Saint Laurent). Saint Laurent also had the vision and knowledge of what it takes
to run a business. It was his idea to start a ready to wear line, titled Rive Gauche,
which was sold exclusively in his boutique on the Left Bank of Paris. When the May
’68 protests were taking place, he knew how to cater to his clientele, who were
very much haute couture customers, while also acknowledging the revolution taking
place among society and in fashion. In fact, it is the enigmatic nature of Saint Laurent
that has captivated the interest of many. He was described as painfully shy, yet he had
a quiet command. He was the embodiment of a haute couture designer, but he also
managed to bridge both worlds: young and old, haute couture and ready-to-wear. He
created collections that were both masculine and feminine. While Bergé has been
credited with business acumen, it was also Saint Laurent’s instinct - a key capability
of a successful entrepreneur- that could be attributed to the longevity and iconic
status of his brand.
– 58 –
YVES SAINT LAURENT
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Deeply shy, highly creative, and regarded as a visionary and a designer of genius,
Saint Laurent was the epitome of quintessential French style and would come to
dominate the fashion industry for almost half a century. His paradoxical personality
reflected the way he designed and managed his brand. He had an unmissable, unique
style, but his most revolutionary look was the 1966 collection, and the introduction
of ‘Le Smoking’. He catered equally to two groups of women – his high society
haute couture clientele as well as the young bohemians, who followed elegant street
fashion. He also managed to blend in artistic influences, such as Mondrian, Cocteau,
Braque,Van Gogh, and Picasso, into his design. Similar to other fashion entrepreneurs,
he ventured into the beauty industry, by creating perfumes to match his collections.
– 59 –
MARY QUANT
1930 – Present , London, UK
– 60 –
MARY QUANT
EARLY BACKGROUND
Born to schoolteachers, who came from mining families, Mary Quant pursued an Art
Education at Goldsmiths College, where her enthusiasm for fashion was born. She
received her early experience by working as an assistant in a prestigious millinery
shop in Mayfair. When she was at college, she had met Plunket Greene (who later
become her husband), with whom she decided to start a business despite having
little initial financial capital. They opened a shop called Bazaar near the King’s Road,
and only with a sewing machine, and some fabrics purchased at Harrods, Quant set
on to make clothes that defined the 1960s fashion and beyond.
Like many of the other fashion entrepreneurs featured in the book, Quant did not
have business knowledge, or even fashion design training. However, she was very
much attuned to the cultural and societal changes taking place in the 1960s. She
proclaimed that the young were taking over, and London was the place to be, as she
set out to create clothes for her and her friends that did not exist in the market.
Her design was very much reflective of the time, and as fashion anticipates the
future, she also reflected changing attitudes towards fashion. This was the post-
war era, Britain, along with the rest of the world was on the brink of social change.
Fashion was no longer about couture but about expressing one’s individuality and
freedom. Her vision, and being attuned to this historic change, allowed her business
to flourish and create an influence not only in UK but also in America. Despite
starting out with limited capital, and no knowledge of business or entrepreneurship,
Quant and Plunket Greene opened a second boutique in Knightsbridge, and within
three years, they secured a deal with Henri Bendel and JC Penney.The small boutique
had become a global brand. She extended her brand into cosmetics and makeup, and
once again, being ahead of her time, she even launched a men’s makeup brand.
– 61 –
MARY QUANT
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Quant’s visionary outlook on fashion, and ability to be in tune with the revolution
that was taking place in the 1960s, created a global brand that has influenced the
fashion industry for decades. She and her brand have become synonymous with
the mini skirt and hot pants. She has made clothes that were considered free and
rebellious at the time, celebrating feminism and youth. Part of the strength of the
Quant brand came from the fact that she designed for herself and would only create
clothes that she and her friends would wear. In fact, just like her predecessors Chanel
and Schiaparelli, she modeled her own clothes. Her key success factor was that
she was uncannily contemporary, and she paved the way for future British fashion
entrepreneurs, helping make London the creative capital of a type of fashion that is
energetic and celebratory of street-style. Today, designers such as Molly Goddard
and the Dublin-based Simone Rocha continue to take risks and embody the female
fashion entrepreneurship that Quant celebrated and made center-stage in her work.
– 62 –
ANDRE COUREGGES
1923 – 2016, Pau, France
– 63 –
ANDRE COUREGGES
BACKGROUND
Andre Couregges was born to a butler father, and a homemaker mother. He wanted
to pursue design and study at an art school from a very early age, but his father
wanted him to become an engineer. He studied engineering, and even served as a
pilot during Second World War.
The Couregges story began when he started working for Cristóbal Balenciaga, who
not only mentored him but also provided him with a loan in order to open his first
fashion house in Paris. While the collection was well received, it won’t be until 1963
when the brand, Courreges, will make fashion history with its futuristic design, go-
go boots, miniskirts and goggles. What he introduced was groundbreaking, causing
Vogue to commission Irving Penn to do a photoshoot with his collection. Couregges
was also a visionary when it came to business, and launched his more affordable
diffusion line, because he knew that his target customer will not be able to afford
the pricier haute couture line.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Despite having worked at Balenciaga, Couregges had his own stylistic language,
which set him apart as a designer. He was fascinated by functionality, practicality and
freedom of movement. He mixed luxury with logic, and despite criticism from the
previous generation designers, such as Chanel, he did not waive from his signature
style. Running parallel with the youth movement of the 1960s, he claimed it was
not Mary Quant but him who invented the mini skirt. Regardless of who was the
originator, it was indeed true that Courreges combined modernity with a masterful
approach to craft. Even after he stepped down from his brand, having run it for 20
years, his design signature remained unchanged.
– 64 –
OSCAR DE LA RENTA
1932 – 2014 , Dominican Republic
– 65 –
OSCAR DE LA RENTA
BACKGROUND
Born and brought up in the Dominican Republic, de la Renta studied at the Academy
of San Fernando in Madrid Spain. He was an accomplished artist, who became
fascinated with fashion and wanted to create his own brand one day.
Oscar de la Renta wanted to pursue becoming a fashion designer, and despite not
having connections to the industry, he started to show his portfolio of drawings
to fashion designers in Madrid, and will eventually secure a position of ‘picking up
pins from the floor’ at Balenciaga in Madrid. He also interned and assisted the
head designer at Lanvin in Paris. He was not afraid to approach people who could
potentially make introductions for him, and it was a chance meeting with Elizabeth
Arden in New York led to a job offer. He relocated from Paris to Manhattan, and
it was thanks to Elizabeth Arden’s right connections and introductions that he was
talked about in Women’s Wear Daily. He started his own line in 1965, two years
after moving to New York, and it was not only the right connections, but his ability
to run a successful business, knowledge of his customers, and the right ‘key’ fashion
insiders that led to a creation of a billion-dollar company, with fragrance lines, and
multiple license deals.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

One of the key characteristics of the fashion entrepreneurs in this book is that they
all have a point of view, a unique look, and a signature. This is also what put Oscar
de la Renta on the map as a successful fashion entrepreneur. He also knew how
the fashion system worked, and was dubbed as the party animal himself, knowing
which New York socialite to approach, and how to speak to the fashion designers.
Indeed, his key clientele early on was the New York elite, with whom he socialized
and created clothes for. It was his proximity to his clientele that was his key success
factor. His key signature style lay in emphasizing the feminine silhouette.
– 66 –
HALSTON
1932 – 1990, Des Moines, Iowa, United States
– 67 –
HALSTON
BACKGROUND
Roy Halston Frowick was born on April 23, 1932, in Des Moines, Iowa to an account
father, and a stay-at-home mother. He developed an early interest in sewing from
his grandmother and he began creating hats and altering clothes for his mother and
sister. He briefly attended Indiana University, before enrolling at the School of Art
Institute of Chicago. During his years as a student, he worked as a window dresser,
and started his own side business making hats.
Halston was the epitome of a fashion entrepreneur, because in his student years
at Chicago, he started making hats, and charmed the hairdresser at Chicago’s
Ambassador Hotel into displaying his creations. Shortly after, a full-page feature
in the Chicago Daily News led to him making hats for celebrities such as Hedda
Hopper and Kim Novak. Aged 25, he decided to try his luck in the Big Apple, and
moved to New York, securing a position as a head milliner for Bergdorf Goodman.
At Bergdorf, he met with some of the leading designers of the time, such as Coco
Chanel, Hubert de Givenchy, and was the first to witness Yves Saint Laurent’s first
collection. But it was his pillbox that he made for Jacqueline Kennedy that epitomized
Halston as a fashion designer. Soon after, he opened his first boutique inside Bergdorf
Goodman, and later his own flagship store on Madison Avenue, with the backing of
a wealthy Texan socialite. His identity was inseparable from the Studio 54 nightclub
that he frequented often, and his own name was on par with the celebrities that he
dressed. He defined the 70s fashion, and by 1978, he had a total of 30 licensing deals,
and a superstar status as a designer. His business was worth $150 million, but by
the summer of 1984, his business, including his brand name was bought by Revlon
cosmetics and he was no longer the President of his company.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Halston eliminated zips, fastening, and made dresses that just glided over the body.
It was not only his free, simple and sensual signature look that defined Halston
but also his superstar persona. His shows were described as an art form, mixing
the Studio 54 disco set, celebrities and New York socialites. His name was, in fact,
inseparable from the 1970s disco lifestyle and the Studio 54 nightclub that he often
frequented. He had an innate understanding of the era he was dressing for, but failed
to make the change in the 1980s, when the culture around him was changing.
– 68 –
EMANUEL UNGARO
1933 – 2019, Aix en Provence, France
– 69 –
EMANUEL UNGARO
BACKGROUND
Emanuel Ungaro was a child of Italian political refugees, who settled in Provence.
Ungaro’s first toy was a Siemens sewing machine. His tailor father, Cosimo, encouraged
and taught him to sew at a very young age, and when he was a teenager, Emanuel
Ungaro started working alongside with his father at the family workshop. He moved
to Paris at the age of 23, and after working with several tailors, he became an intern
to Cristóbal Balenciaga.
He learned the craft of tailoring at a very young age, but it was when interning
with Balenciaga, that he learned couture skills from the master that was Cristóbal
Balenciaga. He spent six years perfecting his craft, and after a brief stint at Andre
Couregges, he opened his own house in 1965, with the financial backing of Swiss
artist Sonja Knapp and Elena Bruna Fassio. His first collection and even subsequent
collections that followed received mixed reviews from press, but despite that he
persevered presenting romantic, frilly dresses that garnered praise of a celebrity
clientele, such as Jean Seberg and Catherine Deneuve. He later on introduced a
menswear with impeccably cut suits, as well as women’s perfumes.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

He was a master tailor and a technician, who was known for his polka-dots, ruffles,
floral patterns, and was regarded as a romantic designer who infused his design
with sensuality. Despite receiving initial rejection and criticism from the key fashion
insiders, he stood behind his vision, and within few seasons, he will garner a loyal
clientele who appreciated his romantic and feminine dream-like silhouette.
– 70 –
KARL LAGERFELD
1933 – 2019, Hamburg, Germany
– 71 –
KARL LAGERFELD
BACKGROUND
Lagerfeld was born on 10 September 1933 in Hamburg, to Elisabeth and businessman
Otto Lagerfeld. His father owned a company that produced and imported evaporated
milk, while his maternal grandfather, Karl Bahlmann, was a local politician for When
Lagerfeld’s mother met his father, she was a lingerie saleswoman from Berlin. His
parents married in 1930. As a child, he showed great interest in visual arts, and
former schoolmates recalled that he was always making sketches during class.
Lagerfeld visited museums, and his great inspiration came from French artists. He
claimed that he only stayed at school in order to learn the French language and live
in Paris one day. He finished his secondary school at the Lycée Montaigne in Paris,
where he majored in drawing and history.
At the start of his career, Lagerfeld entered a coat design competition sponsored by
the International Wool Secretariat, where he won the coat category and befriended
Yves Saint Laurent, who won the dress category. Soon after, he was hired by Pierre
Balmain, then worked at Jean Patou and Chloe. He remained as the head designer
for Chloe for more than a decade, and for Fendi until he died. When he was invited
to reinvigorate Chanel, it was seen as an almost impossible feat, but he managed to
revive the brand into the iconic luxury fashion brand that is today. Karl Lagerfeld
also started his own eponymous line in 1984, a year after he started working for
Chanel. He was a true fashion entrepreneur and a visionary, who collaborated with
brands such as Diesel, H&M (the first designer to do so), which has proven incredibly
successful and created a different fashion business model in the industry. During his
tenure at Chanel, he not only reinvigorated the brand, but also introduced humor
and youth. In addition to being a fashion designer, he was also an artist, photographer,
writer, illustrator, and even a weight-loss guru. In 2001, he reinvented himself by losing
40 kilos, following a diet that was created for him, and he spent time promoting the
book called, the Karl Lagerfeld Diet. His talent was his ability to use the dynamics of
the fashion business in a modern context.
– 72 –
KARL LAGERFELD
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

In addition to being a talented fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld also knew the
importance of creating a persona. The same way a talented actor will command
attention on the screen, Lagerfeld had the unique ability to dominate the fashion
screen for decades. With his fingerless gloves, white ponytail, signature sunglasses,
and the Hedi Slimane suits that were tailored for him, he designed not only fashion
but also a persona. One of the entrepreneurial capabilities is knowing the process of
communication fashion depends on, this communication process is much more than
public relations, but also about creating a certain dream, a look around the face of
the fashion brand. Karl Lagerfeld was a genius when it came to that.
– 73 –
PAUL SMITH
1946 – Present, Nottingham, UK
– 74 –
PAUL SMITH
BACKGROUND
Born in Nottingham, Paul Smith’s early ambition was to become a professional
cyclist. He left school at the age of 15 and started to work at a clothing warehouse,
while practicing cycling as a hobby. Following a serious accident, at the age of 17, Paul
Smith was inspired by his friends to pursue art and fashion. His love and passion for
cycling came to influence his design aesthetic later on, but he had to give it up to
concentrate on a full-time career in fashion, as he started to take classes in tailoring,
eventually finding work at a Saville Row tailors.
In 1970, together with his girlfriend (now wife) Pauline, Smith opened his very first
boutique, a three-square metre backroom, named Paul Smith Vetement Pour Homme.
The small space allowed his customers to feel more comfortable and “if you would
place a cool object on a little table, a small work of art, a poster of Giacometti
on the wall, people would feel more comfortable if there is something to have a
conversation about.” This approach to running a fashion boutique was revolutionary
and was maintained in the way Paul Smith came to organize his business, as all his
shops around the world have a very unique interior design – a blend of art, lifestyle,
and fashion.” Paul Smith initially started with menswear clothing and was only based
in Nottingham. His unique style in fashion as well as shop design, would help to
create a fashion empire that is now in 73 countries.
Japan has also become one of the most important markets for Paul Smith. His
respect for the Japanese culture and his customers there has made him one of
the most famous fashion designers in the country. In fact, he has said “when I walk
down the street in Japan, it’s like being a rock star. People would stop and ask me
for autographs.”
– 75 –
PAUL SMITH
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

In addition to being a talented designer, with a signature stripes to his brand, Paul
Smith’s key success factor has been in creating an experience when shopping. Having
a unique window display, with a home-like feeling of an interior space, where one
could just go not only to shop, but also look has been the key to success in growing
Paul Smith brand. It is not unusual to find talking wristwatches, piggy banks, vintage
vases and scarves in one of his stores.
When asked for his success secrets as an entrepreneur, he identified keeping an eye
on cashflow and knowing the importance of press. For example, his shows once
included a pink colored men’s jacket, which caught press attention and featured on
the cover of GQ. But Smith went on to produce the pink jacket in lesser numbers
than the black jacket in the same style, which would shift more units. He has also
focused on his competitive advantage of retail management, creative and quirky
design with a sensible aesthetic, and has refused to go into brand extensions in
different industries, such as mobile and hospitality.
– 76 –
VALENTINO GARAVANI
1932 – Present,Voghera, Italy
– 77 –
VALENTINO GARAVANI
BACKGROUND
Born near Milan, in the north of Italy,Valentino became interested in fashion when he
watched movie stars Rita Hayworth and Gene Tierney at his local cinema. On leaving
high school, he was adamant he wanted to pursue fashion design education, and he
left for Paris to study at the prestigious Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture
Parisienne. His talent was starting to be noticed when he won the International Wool
Secreatariat award. Upon his graduation, he worked as an assistant designer at Jean
Desses for five years, before moving on to work at Guy Laroche.
Valentino returned to his home country in 1959 and opened his very first fashion
boutique in the prestigious Via Condotti, with financial backing from his father. His
store had the influences of Parisian haute couture, and even models were flown in
from Paris. Despite his initial and almost immediate success as a fashion designer,
he lacked the business acumen that was necessary to sustain a successful business.
It was by chance that he met his partner Giancarlo Giammetti at a café in Rome.
Giammetti would provide the business acumen and entrepreneurial vision for the
Valentino brand for years to come, while Valentino focused on his competitive
advantage: style and fashion. In fact, Valentino once said that he only knows how
to do three things: “make a dress, decorate a house, and entertain people.” The
1960s were a period of particular excitement and expansion for his brand, as he
made clothes for movie stars and put together visually beautiful and unique fashion
shows. His truly global success came with Jacqueline Kennedy, who noticed his all-
white spring presentation of 1968 and wore one his dresses for her wedding with
Aristotle Onasis. After this moment,Valentino became a global brand with new lines
introduced, including accessories, perfume, cosmetics, and interior design.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Valentino embraced the glamourous aspect of fashions and created a style that is
synonymous with elegance, beauty, and passion. He captured attention and built a
reputation by dressing some of the most captivating beauties and stars, including
Elizabeth Taylor, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, and Audrey Hepburn. He embraced
the Italian passion and married it with his outmost perfection and precision, resulting
in a long-lasting brand with impeccable standards.
– 78 –
GIORGIO ARMANI
1934 – Present, Piacenza, Italy
– 79 –
GIORGIO ARMANI
BACKGROUND
Giorgio Armani was born in Piacenza, a small town outside of Milan, to a poor
family (his father was a shipping manager). Giorgio and his two siblings experienced
the hardships of the Second World War as children. He lived through difficult and
challenging times, and years later, would say that the cinema in Milan was a refuge,
where he fell in love with Hollywood glamour and the idealized beauty and style
depicted on the silver screen.At a very early age, he developed an interest in anatomy,
making dolls out of mud, which led to him going to medical school for two years. He
had to take a break to complete his mandatory military service, and during a visit
to Milan, he saw the Italian fashion scene there and knew that he wanted to enter
the industry. Through a friend, he got a job at the renowned department store, La
Rinascente, designing windows, and would eventually move to work for Cerutti.
Giorgio Armani is one of the most successful designers in history, having defined
decades of fashion and made moves that have proven to be very successful from a
business point of view. In his early years, before starting his own venture, he already
had a very keen understanding of what customers wanted and could identify the
societal and cultural changes taking place. He worked in La Rinascente for seven years,
initially designing windows. His vision was ahead of its time, especially for the rather
conservative Italian consumers, because he would design windows that were exotic,
blending different cultures. But what his experience at the department store gave him
was the chance to observe how customers dressed and purchased fashion. It was,
however, his work as freelance designer to Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT), a company
with a long tradition of working in textiles and making revolutionary innovations in
manufacturing, that would serve as the turning point in Armani’s career as a fashion
entrepreneur. As one of the largest Italian clothing firms, with the most modern
structure, the company provided Armani with manufacturing skills which allowed him
to fully exploit his creative talent. In fact, the unstructured jacket was the result of the
partnership between Armani and GFT which began in 1978 and continued to be a key
success factor in establishing Armani as a successful fashion business.
– 80 –
GIORGIO ARMANI
It was in July 1975, upon his friend Sergio Galeotti’s encouragement, that the two
would partner and start the Giorgio Armani brand, initially launching a menswear
collection followed, a year later, by womenswear. The revolutionary style of Armani’s
clothes earned him widespread recognition. He introduced a natural fit, a casual
elegance, and timeless classics with a subtle color palette. His was a unique style,
which caught the attention of the fashion press and was also a great success with
customers. Expensive and instantly recognizable, Armani would become the label of
choice in the late 1970s and 1980s. His success was further fueled by the American
consumer’s interest in his style; hen Hollywood featured his clothes in movies,
Armani would come to be the most sought after label. Such was Armani’s influence
on the red carpet that in 1989 the Oscar ceremony was dubbed as the “Armani
Awards”. His entrepreneurial vision was cemented when Armani extended his brand
into lifestyle products. In addition to complementary products, such as beauty and
homeware, he also ventured into hotels.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

In the years that followed the war, the Italian fashion industry was characterized by
the dolce vita lifestyle and excess. When Giorgio Armani launched his label in 1975,
it was the opposite of the extravagance that had come to define the Italian fashion
designers. His unstructured jacket attracted the attention of the fashion press and
the public, helping him to be noticed as a revolutionary fashion designer of the time.
Armani’s minimalist style stood out in a sea of maximalist culture. Armani fashion
shows were also a respite from the extravagant runways that were a norm in the
industry in that era. He presented wearable, chic clothes with neutral palettes. His
ability to underplay yet, at the same time, appear highly desirable and immaculate
was the key to his success.
– 81 –
KENZO TAKADA
1939 – 2020, Himeji, Japan
– 82 –
KENZO TAKADA
BACKGROUND
Born to a family of seven siblings, Kenzo Takada showed an early interest to fashion
through reading his sisters’ fashion magazines. He studied literature at Kobe
University but left to take up fashion at Bunka Gakuen University in Tokyo, when the
university started to allow male students to study fashion. During his time at Bunka,
Takada won a fashion design competition. At this time, he also gained experience
working in the Sanai department store, where he designed up to 40 outfits a month
as a girl’s clothing designer. He idolized Yves Saint Laurent as a designer and Paris
as the fashion capital, so he bought a one way ticket to Europe, eventually arriving
in Paris in 1964. He showed his designs to fashion houses and was hired by Pierre
Cardin as a freelancer.
Takada was a foreigner, who wanted to make a name as a designer in Paris, and this
was no small task. His first few years in Paris were a struggle, despite selling some of
his sketches to fashion designers, and working as a stylist for a textile manufacturer,
Pisanti. Takada, was however, determined and worked hard to give himself a chance.
In 1970, a woman he met at a flea market offered to rent him a small space at
Gallerie Vivienne, where he opened his first boutique. With very little capital, he
created his first collection out of textiles he found in the market in Montmarte. His
collection was colorful, creative, and accessibly priced, and it was presented on real
women, since he couldn’t afford to hire models. He was inspired by the painter, Henri
Roussault, and ended up painting his shop in colorful, jungle-like colors, naming the
shop Jungle Jap – a name that would also bring controversy. Takada’s talent, despite
being an unknown designer at the time, was noticed by the fashion media; in 1970,
Elle put his designs on its cover. As a designer, he remained true to his unique style,
and his success would result in several boutiques, international recognition, as well
as expansion into the beauty business.
– 83 –
KENZO TAKADA
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Capturing the spirit of the early 1970s, Kenzo Takada, embodied the spirit and mood
of the moment. He combined kaleidoscopic colors and cultural diversity with Eastern
sensibility. He had a unique ability to clash prints, mix textures and use vibrant color
palette, which earned him the nickname, “the Little Prince of Fashion.” He promoted
cultural diversity and unity, and it was a signature style of Kenzo to clash color,
texture and print, using Peruvian wraps, florals, and pompoms. He became known
for his irreverence, taking the basis of a kimono and translating it to an unexpected
fabric. He dismissed the classic approach to tailoring and seasonal color palettes.
To him, fashion was about fantasy and creating a dream, and he took inspiration
from around the world – African boubous, British raincoats, and Portuguese purses.
Kenzo’s talent was considered “second [only] to Saint Laurent,” by The Times.
– 84 –
ISSEY MIYAKE
1938 – Present, Hiroshima, Japan
– 85 –
ISSEY MIYAKE
BACKGROUND
Issey Miyake was born in Hiroshima and was seven years old when the atomic bomb
was dropped. He lost most of his family, including his mother, to radiation exposure.
This tragedy would not, however, come to define him, as he was adamant to not be
labeled by his past and be known as “the designer who survived the atomic bomb.”
He studied graphic design at Tama Art University in Tokyo, and upon his graduation,
he moved to Paris to work for Guy Laroche and Givenchy.
Miyake returned to Tokyo in 1970 to start his own fashion brand, and the following
year, he presented his fashion collection in New York (a city where he had previously
worked in fashion merchandising). He chose to showcase in New York deliberately.
Having experienced both cities, he found Paris to be too stuffy and static for his
vision. His strategy for success has been to create unique clothes that do not exist in
the traditional fashion sphere, which has garnered the attention of influential fashion
figures, celebrities, and customers. He has run his venture with precision but also
fluidity, which are key signatures of his design too. In 1993, he extended his brand
with the “Pleats Please” collection, and he also has ventured out into the perfume
business, which has proven to become a highly profitable part of the Miyake business.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

For Miyake, fabric and textile are fundamental. He considers them to be the starting
points of his design. He has cited the kimono and the raincoat as two of his favorite
fashion items. He was inspired by Madeleine Vionnet’s single piece of clothing design
and started to experiment in the 1980s with the pleating technique (using Mario
Fortuny as an inspiration).The pleating technique allows both flexibility of movement
for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. The garments are cut and
sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper, and fed into a heat press where
they are pleated. The fabric’s “memory” holds the pleats and when the garments are
liberated from their paper cocoon, they are ready to wear. This unique technique
was the cornerstone of his success and came to define the Miyake brand. As with
most fashion entrepreneurs, Miyake introduced a perfume into his brand, called
L’eau d’Issey, produced by Shiseido Group.
– 86 –
RALPH LAUREN
1939 – Present, Bronx, United States
– 87 –
RALPH LAUREN
BACKGROUND
Born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx to a family a Belarussian and Ashkenazi Jewish
immigrants, he is the youngest of four siblings. He grew up wanting to become either
an artist or a basketball player. He attended day school followed by the Manhattan
Talmudical Academy and went to Baruch College at the City University of New York,
where he studied business, but dropped after two years. He settled on a career in
selling ties, at the Allied Stores.
Ralph Lauren started his career in fashion as a tie salesman, and reigned supreme in
the art of marketing. A decade after working at the Allied Stores, he started his own
company, calling it Polo Fashions Inc, and had an extraordinary ability of storytelling.
He himself is known to say that he doesn’t design a dress, but designs dreams, and
this was reflected in the way he conjured up aspirational images via his marketing
campaign, or stores that reflected an aristocratic quality and a lifestyle one aspired
to live. He had a training and experience of retail and had an inherent understanding
of the customer. His clothes were chic, classic, desirable and very wearable. With
each collection, he created a lifestyle that his customers wanted to buy into. Each
collection has had recurring themes that became the hallmark of the Ralph Lauren
brand: the all-American family, polo player, the Ivy League student, the English
aristocrat, and the prairie pioneer. His design philosophy has been about creating a
lifestyle, and he extended that into his business, where the Ralph Lauren brand can
be found in luggage, eyewear, homeware, underwear, sportswear, and tableware.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

His key success factor has been his understanding of how retail works, what
customers ultimately want to buy, and after identifying a clear need in the market,
he has had the ability to meet that need with a product that signified not only a
desirable lifestyle but was also timeless. It was not about trends, but about longevity.
– 88 –
AZZEDINE ALAÏA
1940 – 2017, Tunis, Tunisia
– 89 –
AZZEDINE ALAÏA
BACKGROUND
Alaïa was born in Tunisia on 26 February 1935. His parents were wheat farmers, but
his glamorous twin sister, Hafida, inspired his love for fashion and haute couture. A
French friend of his mother, Mrs. Pineau, fed Alaïa’s instinctive creativity with copies
of Vogue magazine. He lied about his age to get himself into the Tunis Institute of
Fine Arts, where he gained valuable insights into the human form and began studying
sculpture. He worked as a dressmaker with his sister to pay for his school supplies.
Alaïa came to Paris at the age of 18, and spent only 5 days at Christian Dior, before
being fired. He worked at Guy Laroche,Thierry Mugler, and was fiercely independent
not only when it came to designing, but also how he ran his business. When he
launched his own atelier, he did so in his own apartment, and from this tiny space,
he will go on to create groundbreaking collections that will gain critical appraise,
and dress some of the most well-known celebrities. In 2000, he went into a business
agreement with Prada, and he said the motivation was not a financial one, but to
secure his archive. Alaïa’s personal collection – one of the most comprehensive in
the world – includes examples of couturiers such as Charles James and Madeleine
Vionnet. In fact, he is known to buy dresses from renowned designers and spend
hours studying them.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Alaïa was known for a silhouette that closely followed the woman’s body, and he was
a complete contradiction in the mainstream fashion industry. He refused to conform
to industry standards, foregoing seasonal collections and presented his collections
outside of the fashion calendar. He did not court the fashion press and yet received
praise and acclaim from the industry insiders. He had a cult-like following, and a
loyal clientele who appreciated his body-conscious style that reflected a powerful,
fearless and unashamedly sexy woman.
– 90 –
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
1941 – Present, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
– 91 –
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
BACKGROUND
Vivienne Westwood started off as a primary school teacher to become a renowned
fashion designer. She was born in 1941 in Derbyshire and moved to London as a
teenager when her parents relocated due to work. She married an airline steward
Derek Westwood, and a year later, her son was born. It was a fateful meeting in 1965,
when a chance meeting with a situationist artist Malcolm McLaren will transform
Vivienne Westwood from a teacher to a fashion pioneer whose creative drive will
change the British fashion industry.
Malcolm McLaren convinced Vivienne Westwood to launch a radical retail store in
London’s Kings Road, called Let it Rock, Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, Sex and
Seditionaries. In 1976, they will create the most revolutionary street style: punk.
Often decades ahead of her time, Westwood launched her eponymous collection in
1981, called Pirate, and then followed by Buffalo Girl, Witches and Punkature. Her
collections were groundbreaking not only in their pattern-cutting technique, but also
in the thought process behind them. She would borrow from Dior’s New Look, and
combine it with British aristocracy, rewriting the rules on tailoring. She reinvigorated
the interest in British fashion and has become one of the most celebrated British
designers and paved the way for the younger British fashion designers who followed
in her footsteps.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

She was not afraid to play with the rules of fashion, and experiment with different
pattern-cutting techniques, textile and fabric. She was a complete revolutionary who
unleashed her imagination by borrowing and being influenced from different eras,
whether it is 19th century Parisian fashion or Greek mythology. She is therefore
considered an equal parts of fashion historian, as well as a creative visionary.
– 92 –
CALVIN KLEIN
1942 – Present, Bronx, United States
– 93 –
CALVIN KLEIN
BACKGROUND
Calvin Klein was born in Bronx to a family of immigrants (his father was Hungarian,
and his mother Ukrainian). He was one of the fashion designers to be raised in
the Jewish community of Bronx, which included Ralph Lauren. Although he went
to Fashion Institute of Technology, he never graduated and after becoming a well-
known designer, he received an honorary degree.
As much as a fashion designer, Calvin Klein was a businessman, and even a better
advertisement guru who knew how to create both desire and a controversy. He
worked in the art department at Women’s Wear Daily, and apprenticed with a coat
maker, Dan Millstein. In 1968, with a $10,000 loan from his friend Barry Schwartz,
and a $2,000 of his own money, Klein established Calvin Klein Ltd. The success was
immediate and in his first year, he made half a million dollars. The year after, a Calvin
Klein was featured on the cover of Vogue. He introduced fragrances, jeans, and
transformed the men’s underwear market by putting his name on the elasticated
waistband. In 1989, Calvin Klein was turning over $1.2 trillion. He had an impeccable
ability to predict cultural changes, and this was reflected in his clever advertisement
that had sexual undertones (which will be utilized by the new generations of
designers to come, particularly Tom Ford).
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Calvin Klein was synonymous with American understatement, but also with his
seductive and groundbreaking advertisement campaigns. He knew how to provoke,
and garner attention. From the controversial heroin chic look, to Marky Mark’s Calvin
Klein boxers, to Brooke Shields and her Calvin Klein jeans, he had an impeccable
ability to create controversy and interest in his brand. He knew fashion depended
on advertisement, and from the inception of his business, he also started an in-house
brand agency to help with the communication process of Calvin Klein.
– 94 –
GIANNI VERSACE
1946 – 1997, Reggio di Calabria, Italy
– 95 –
GIANNI VERSACE
BACKGROUND
Versace was born in the city of Reggio Calabria on 2 December 1946, and grew up
with his elder brother Santo Versace and younger sister Donatella Versace, along
with their father and dressmaker mother, Francesca. An older sister, Tina, died at
age 12 because of an improperly treated tetanus infection. Versace was strongly
influenced by ancient Greek history, which dominates the historical landscape of
his birthplace. He attended Liceo Classico Tommaso Campanella, where he studied
Latin and ancient Greek, without completing the course. Versace’s introduction to
tailoring started a very young age, at his mother’s sewing business in their hometown,
where she employed a dozen seamstresses. He became interested in architecture,
before moving to Milan at the age of 26 to study fashion design.
Versace started his career designing for a Florentine fashion house, called Florentine
Flowers, but moved to Milan shortly after and specialized in knitwear, securing
freelance contracts with Genny and Callaghan. He designed for Byblos, and made his
name designing a collection for Complice. With the encouragement of his brother,
Santo Versace, he launched his own label in 1977 and a year after that opened his
first boutique in Milan’s Via della Spiga. He epitomized the 1980s with his sensual
and exuberant style that celebrated curves and left little to the imagination. He was
instrumental in promoting the supermodel concept via his shows and using the
celebrity status as part of his business models. His fashion shows were frequented
by celebrities, who became his clients including Elton John, Madonna, Princess of
Wales, Elizabeth Hurley and David Bowie. He credited prostitutes of his hometown,
as a source for his influence when it came to blend sexuality with fashion and luxury.
He defined the era that celebrated ostentation, and never resting on his laurels,
Versace expanded his creative energy to designing costumes for opera, ballet and
theatre. He was a creative force, and a clever businessman.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Versace had a fearless vision for how his brand wanted to look – from supermodels
to celebrities, from clothes that were opulent and seductive, to the use of Greek
symbols, such as the Medusa head that will symbolize the brand. In the way only
Italians can,Versace brought excess, glamour and palatial retail proportions to fashion.
He created exuberant clothes and had a unique point of view when designing for the
Versace woman. His bold style and vision are what put him on the map as a fashion
entrepreneur, and who left an iconic brand behind.
– 96 –
DONNA KARAN
1948 – Present, New York, United States
– 97 –
DONNA KARAN
BACKGROUND
Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen “Queenie” Faske and father
Gabriel “Gabby” Faske (born Faskowitz in Queens, New York. Karan’s mother had
been a model and had also worked in designer Chester Weinberg’s showroom. Her
father was a tailor who died when Karan was only three years old. Karan and her
older sister Gail were raised by their mother. Growing up, Karan took pleasure in
softball, volleyball, and basketball, cut classes in high school, and passed much of her
time in the art department. She graduated from high school in 1966, and then went
to the Parsons School of Design.
Prior to launching her brand, Donna Karan gained extensive experience in the
fashion industry, working as a head designer for Anne Klein for 14 years, and learned
the art of blending practicality, wearability and desirability. With financial backing
from her husband, she launched her own brand that had interchangeable separates
and was called ‘Seven Easy Pieces’. Her collection was antithesis to the power suit
of the ‘80s and targeted the executive woman who wanted to celebrate her curves.
Her statement on business fashion instantly was a hit with the female careerist
who wanted to combine professional dressing with sex appeal. It was very much a
‘New York look’ that translated globally, and her brand was a success not only in
America but worldwide. Her business and entrepreneurial success lay in her ability
to recognize a need in the market and fulfill it. Years of working in the fashion
industry, at Anne Klein, had also prepared her with an understanding how the
industry worked, but most importantly, what was missing in the fashion world.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Donna Karan’s design philosophy has been straightforward, no-fuss, elegant, and easy
to wear pieces that solved a problem in the modern women’s wardrobe. This innate
ability of understanding what customer wanted was also her key success factor that
resulted in a brand that became eponymous with elegance, ease, and timeless style.
– 98 –
MIUCCIA PRADA
1949 – Present, Milan, Italy
– 99 –
MIUCCIA PRADA
BACKGROUND
Born Maria Bianchion 10 May 1949 in Milan, she took the name Miuccia Prada in
the 1980s, after being adopted by an aunt. Her biological parents were Luigi Bianchi
and his wife, Luisa Prada. She has two older siblings, Albert and Marina. She attended
Liceo Classico Berchet high school in Milan and graduated with a PhD in political
science from University of Milan. She trained to become a mime and performed for
five years. She was also a member of the Italian Communist party and was involved
in women’s rights movement during the seventies in Milan. In 1978, she decided to
enter her family business of leather luxury bags, a company that was established in
1913, by her grandfather. It was around this time when she met Patrizio Bertelli,
who will become her future husband, and together they will create a billion-dollar
fashion company.
Miuccia Prada is the only fashion designer to have a doctorate in political science
and to be a political activist. Her unique background has allowed her to create by
instinct, but also by understanding the cultural shifts that take place, and her unique
ability has been in considering issues that influence how we consume fashion. In
1984, she introduced the infamous black nylon Prada backpack that will have a
groundbreaking effect on the industry and pave the way for the designer handbag
revolution. Made from the same heavyweight material used by the Italian army, it
was an instant hit with its recognizable triangle Prada logo and card verifying its
authenticity.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Prada’s success lay in her extraordinary ability to predict and respond to cultural
changes, and it was this ability alone that has resulted in the creation of an iconic
brand. She continues to adapt to changes taking place today, with an investment to
digital transformation, sustainability efforts by re-introducing older collections, as
well as investing into art projects.
– 100 –
FRANCO MOSCHINO
1950 – 1994, Abbiategrasso, Italy
– 101 –
FRANCO MOSCHINO
BACKGROUND
Moschino was born near Milan, in a rural town called Abbiategrasso. His family
owned an iron foundry that his father hoped he would work. However, Moschino
was interested in fine art and aspired to be a painter. In 1968, he ran away from home
to Milan where he enrolled at the Marangoni Institute. He did not have emotional or
the financial support of his family, and in order to finance his studies, he worked as
a freelance fashion illustrator for fashion houses and magazines. After completing his
schooling in 1971, Moschino became an illustrator for Gianni Versace, and continued
to work for him for another six years. From 1977 to 1982, he designed for the Italian
label Cadette.
Franco Moschino could have followed his family into their iron foundry business,
but his mind was set on becoming a fashion designer. After working for Versace
and Cadette, he started his own company called Moonshadow and launched the
Moschino brand in 1983. Five years later, he presented the more affordable version,
Moschino Cheap and Chic, with despite its lower price was still impeccably made.
He was very much influenced by the Surrealist movement, and with a style that
was reminiscent of Elsa Schiaparelli. He was known for bringing humor to fashion,
and this lack of pretension was refreshing in the industry. He criticized fashion and
the way fashion system was set up, and often will use his sense of humor in order
to show the absurd side of fashion. Moschino himself was surprised by his success,
particularly in Italy, where fashion was taken very seriously.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

Similar to Elsa Schiaparelli, Franco Moschino brought humor to fashion and never
took it seriously. This was reflected in his collections, where he decorated a dinner
suit with real cutlery, or when he sent down the runway a Chanel jacket with the
words ‘waste of money’ where the signature gold chain would be. He was aware
of the paradoxical nature of fashion, and will extend his humor to his own self,
admitting that his approach to fashion is one of contradiction, and despite being in
the fashion business, he did not embrace the rules of it.
– 102 –
IMAGE CREDITS
1. The Tulip Hollandaise dress by Charles Worth “1889 tulip cloak” by

charleybrown77 is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license,
visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
2. Louis Vuitton’s Workshop in Asnieres sur Seine. Credit: Unknown Photographer,
Public Domain
3. “Jeanne Paquin Gown, 1914” by Flapper Reloaded is licensed with CC BY-NC-
ND 2.0.To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-nd/2.0/
4. Portrait of Paul Poiret by André Derrain (1880-1954). André Derain. 1880-1954.
Paris. Portrait de Paul Poiret. Portrait of Paul Poiret. 1915. Grenoble. Musée des
Beaux Arts.” by jean louis mazieres is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view
a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
5. Burberry: Public Domain
6. Vintage Gucci bag “Gucci - Firenze” by Mathieu Lebreton is licensed with CC
BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/2.0/
7. Gabrielle Coco Chanel. Credit: Unknown, Public Domain
8. Wallis Simpson in Elsa Schiaparelli, “Wallis Simpson 1896 - 1986” by oneredsf1
is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
9. “You Walk too Fast Mommy” Jeanne Lanvin’s infamous mother-daughter
ensemble. “’Tu vas trop vite, Maman...’ - Tailleur et robe de fillette de Jeanne
Lanvin [‘You Walk Too Fast, Mommy’ - Tailored ensemble and Child’s Dress by
Jeanne Lanvin]” by MCAD Library is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of
this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
10. “Marion Morehouse and unidentified model wearing dresses by Vionnet. 1930”
by snkprotoss is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
11. “Mainbocher 1956” by BlueVelvetVintage.com is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA
2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/2.0/
12. “Salvatore Ferragamo” by GIS@Sam is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.To view
a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
– 103 –
IMAGE CREDITS
13. Christian Dior with a model, Source: Unknown, Public Domain

14. “McCall’s Magazine September 1949, model wearing Claire McCardell” by
myvintagevogue is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license,
15. “Cristóbal Balenciaga for Hattie Carnegie evening dress” by Museum at FIT is
licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
16. “McCall’s Magazine September 1949, model wearing Claire McCardell” by
myvintagevogue is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a copy of this license,
17. “Cristobal Balenciaga for Hattie Carnegie evening dress” by Museum at FIT is
licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
18. Jacques Fath with model, by Kristine is licensed with CC BY-NC 2.0. To view a
copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
19. “Licensed copy of Pierre Balmain’s Angel evening dress, created by Orcilia” by
Museum at FIT is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
20. “Trouser suit, patterned silk top and synthetic fibre trousers, Emilio Pucci, Italy,
1965.” is licensed with CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
21. “Pierre Cardin Suit 1959” by BlueVelvetVintage.com is licensed with CC BY-NC-
SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc-sa/2.0/
22. “File:Hubert de Givenchy in his atelier at Avenue George V.tif” by James de
Givenchy is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
23. “Le bureau d’Yves Saint Laurent (Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Paris)” by
dalbera is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
24. “Mary Quant” by olebrat is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of
this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
25. “GoGo Buits, Andre Courreges, 1964” by mode21com is licensed with CC BY-
NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0
– 104 –
IMAGE CREDITS
26. “Oscar de la Renta: Five Decades of Style” by TheBushCenter is licensed with

CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
27. “Halston & Models 1977” by Sacheverelle is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
sa/2.0/
28. “05/10/06 Emanuel Ungaro 07PE fashion show(resourced by figaro)” by Yun X
is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
29. “Fendi store opening - Karl Lagerfeld” by www.adachphoto.wix.com/portfolio
is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
30. “Paul Smith for Evian-405” by Liton Ali is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a
copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
31. “File:Valentino Liz Hurley Cannes.jpg” by Georges Biard is licensed with CC BY-
by-sa/3.0
32. “Giorgio Armani - Vogue Fashion’s Night Out Sept.10 2009 MILANO” by
br1dotcom is licensed with CC BY 2.0.To view a copy of this license, visit https://
33. Kenzo: https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/d361b2e6-0461-49cc-97ba-
440d38fc66bb
34. “File:Flying Saucer dress by Issey Miyake, Japan, 1994.jpg” by Πελοποννησιακό
Λαογραφικό Ίδρυμα is licensed with CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this
license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
35. “Ralph Lauren” by Ferlinka Borzoi (Deb West) is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To
view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
36. “Azzedine Alaïa dress” by Museum at FIT is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
nd/2.0/
37. “Vivienne Westwood -A Life in Fashion - Hong Kong 2008” by nicolecolecole
is licensed with CC BY-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
38. “Calvin Klein Jeans - 1985” by rchappo2002 is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
nd/2.0/
– 105 –
IMAGE CREDITS
39. “’Dialoghi Dissing / Gianni Versace - Magna Grecia Tribute’ exhibition up to

September 20, 2017 at Archaeological Museum of Naples” by Carlo Raso is
marked under CC PDM 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.
org/publicdomain/mark/1.
40. “Donna Karan” by jdlasica is licensed with CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this
license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
41. “File:Miuccia Prada (cropped).jpg” by Cory M. Grenier is licensed with CC BY-
by-sa/2.0
42. “Dress by Franco Moschino and Roy Lichtenstein at Rohsska Museum Gothenburg
Sweden” by Karen V Bryan is licensed with CC BY-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this
license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
– 106 –

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ICONIC FASHION

CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH 6 YVES SAINT LAURENT 57

LOUIS VUITTON 9 MARY QUANT 60

JEANNE PAQUIN 12 ANDRÉ COURRÈGES 63

PAUL POIRET 14 OSCAR DE LA RENTA 65

THOMAS BURBERRY 17 HALSTON 67

GUCCIO GUCCI 19 EMANUEL UNGARO 69

GABRIELLE COCO CHANEL 22 KARL LAGERFELD 71

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI 25 PAUL SMITH 74

JEANNE LANVIN 27 VALENTINO GARAVANI 77

MADELEINE VIONNET 29 GIORGIO ARMANI 79

MAINBOCHER 32 KENZO TAKADA 82

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO 34 ISSEY MIYAKE 84

CHRISTIAN DIOR 37 RALPH LAUREN 87

HATTIE CARNEGIE 40 AZZEDINE Alaïa 89

CLAIRE MCCARDELL 43 VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 91

CHRISTOBAL BALENCIAGA 45 CALVIN KLEIN 93

JACQUES FATH 47 GIANNI VERSACE 95

PIERRE BALMAIN 49 DONNA KARAN 97

EMILIO PUCCI 51 MIUCCIA PRADA 99

PIERRE CARDIN 53 FRANCO MOSCHINO 101

HUBERT DE GIVENCHY 55 IMAGE CREDITS 103

CHARLES FREDERICK WORTH

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

YVES SAINT LAURENT

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS