The 20 Best Fashion Designers Of All Time And How They Pushed All Acceptable Boundaries

In contrast to the life she’d later lead, Vivienne Westwood’s early days were modest. Born into a working family, she herself trained to be a teacher as a young adult. Still, everything changed when she met Malcolm Mclaren, who would become her partner and introduce her to an entirely new world. In 1971 he opened a clothes store, which is where Westwood first showed off her flair for design.

Westwood’s clothing designs soon came to define the burgeoning punk era, but she continued to develop and innovate from there. Nowadays, she’s considered to be one of Britain’s greatest designers. Her legacy includes bringing the corset back into fashion, establishing the notion of underwear working as “outerwear,” and the invention of the “mini-crini.”

Giorgio Armani didn’t waltz straight into the fashion industry; his background is in medical school and the military. By the middle of the ’70s, though, he’d started to develop his own line of clothing, which really took off in 1980 after his designs appeared in the film American Gigolo. It was only up from there, with the Italian’s design business steadily becoming a bona fide empire.

Armani clothes have a very distinct “look.” The colors tend to be quite restrained — grays, navies, and beiges —sometimes with some understated patterns, such as dots and stripes. The distinction between men and women’s wear has never been particularly stark, an approach considered especially bold back in the ’80s. Gender fluidity wasn’t exactly a talking-point in those days.

Paco Rabanne originally studied architecture, but he ultimately moved into the world of fashion. His career started to take off after he released a collection called “Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials” in 1966, which really showed off his innovative and strange nature. As well as the clothing being extremely unusual, he also arranged for music to be played during the show — which was unheard of in those days — and he employed models of varying ethnicities to show off his work.

Whether we’re talking about his jewelry or his clothing, Rabanne’s designs have always been provocative. His genius has been to use the most unusual materials in his work, ultimately creating items that combine totally different worlds. For example, somehow creating spacey, futuristic outfits that also seem to have a medieval feel is no mean feat!

Born in 1939 in the Bronx, Ralph Lauren had a humble start in life. He eventually moved into a career in fashion, working for a time with Brooks Brothers, before setting up his own business. As we know now, this would take off in a big way and Lauren would become one of America’s premium designers.

At the start of his career, Lauren was disappointed by the state of menswear — and he sought to change it. Speaking to FHM Magazine South Africa toward the end of 2020 he reflected, “You have to remember this was the late ’60s and everything was three buttons and narrow lapels. I had always loved the look of the old English gentleman who dressed in class and style, who knew what he was wearing but acted like he didn’t care. That’s the image I wanted.”

Coco Chanel is widely credited with changing the very nature of women’s fashion. Originally trained as a hat-maker, she eventually developed beyond headwear into other forms of clothing. Her work, in many ways, altered the ways in which ladies were expected to dress, meaning they were no longer expected to wear difficult items such as corsets.

Chanel’s designs weren’t as tight as most forms of womenswear during her day, plus they were less overtly “feminine” in the impression they gave off. The designer wanted ladies to be as comfortable in their clothing as men were permitted to be. As she is once quoted as saying, “Nothing is more beautiful than freedom of the body.”

Arriving to the world in 1932 Italian designer Valentino Garavani is today world-renowned for his clothing designs. Often seen adorning the rich and famous as they waltz down the red carpet, his work has ultimately cast him as one of Italy’s finest designers. But it all started with a collection in 1962 which really put him on the map and made him celebrities’ go-to designer.

As the ’60s wore on, Valentino began to hone his style — and to pick up awards and plaudits for it. By 1967 he was designing Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress for her union to Aristotle Onassis, which, of course, is when she became Jackie O. If nothing else, this cemented his legacy as the designer for the stars.

Christian Dior’s parents had initially hoped he’d grow up to serve as a diplomat, but that’s not the career path he eventually followed. The Frenchman’s artistic flair initially led him to running an art gallery, but after that didn’t work out he moved into fashion design. Things were cut short, though, when he was forced to serve in the military in 1940.

Dior’s service concluded two years later, meaning he could return to fashion. By 1947 he was debuting his first collection, which proved to be a great hit. The sheer grandeur and excess of his clothing was a little shocking for post-war France, but it ultimately restored Paris’ reputation as the world’s premium fashion destination.

After spending some time in fashion school, a young Yves Saint Laurent went to work under Christian Dior. He rose through the ranks, even taking on the art director position after Dior’s passing in ’57. He was only 21 at this point, but despite his youth he still found tremendous success with his debut collection that same year.

Saint Laurent was forced to give up his prestigious position when he was drafted into the military. A couple of years later, though, he was back and ready to get back into fashion once again. He set up a label of his own, through which he released such innovative items as the jumpsuit, the reefer jacket, and the sheer blouse.

Born in 1946 Italian Gianni Versace was introduced to the world of fashion early. His mom was a dressmaker, teaching the young boy her skills at a tender age. He created his first garment at the age of nine! It was only up from there, and he debuted a collection for the first time in 1978.

Among his other achievements, Versace is widely acknowledged to have brought the supermodel into existence. In other words, he was the first to pay models such as Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell insane amounts of money to show off his designs. He changed the industry in that way before his murder in 1997.

Born in the early ’50s Parisian Jean Paul Gaultier developed a passion for fashion early on. He never received a formal education in the field, though he did start working for Pierre Cardin while he was still at school. This was all the instruction he needed, and soon he was crafting a successful career for himself.

Gaultier released his first collection in ’76, but it was only in ’82 that he actually set up his own label. With that, he came to be referred to as fashion’s l’enfant terrible, a reference to his tendency to challenge the industry’s norms of the time. He was, for instance, very fond of creating womenswear that might then have been seen as “masculine,” and vice versa when it came to menswear.

With a Beatle as a father, Stella McCartney was thrust into the limelight right away. But amidst the craziness of having Paul and Linda as parents, she also developed a strong interest in fashion, and by her early teenage years she was actually producing clothing. Her skills only grew as she became more experienced.

McCartney’s fashion sense has been termed by Vogue magazine as “simple,” but with “a feminine edge.” Another notable feature of her designs is that they never incorporate animal products. Like her mother before her, she’s a serious advocate for the rights of animals, so she never uses things like fur or leather.

Even though his name isn’t quite as well-known as some of his contemporaries — like, say, Christian Dior or Coco Chanel — Pierre Balmain is still considered to be one of France’s greatest designers. His work was elegant and classy, and there were plenty of novel innovations within it to admire.

By the 1950s Balmain had become a trendsetter, helping things like eveningwear, stoles, and sheath dresses to become very popular. Whether it was a simple creation or a remarkably elaborate one, his designs were always of high quality. He even created the uniform for the crew members working for Singapore Airlines.

Michael Kors was always going to work in showbiz in some capacity. As a child he was a model, and he also took acting lessons. But at the age of 14 he gave all that up to focus on his passion for fashion. He found success as a designer for other brands and stores, before eventually setting up his own empire.

Speaking about the development of his style in 1979 Kors remarked to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper, “I had no preconceived notions about what worked and what didn’t. After [a year-and-a-half], I realized what kind of clothes I wanted to make, and that they worked. I always loved very simple, understated things.”

Edith Head managed to take home eight Best Costume Design Oscars during her lifetime, which was a record-breaking haul. Before all that, though, she was actually a teacher of languages. Yet by 1924 she’d moved into costume design and her reputation as one of the very best in the game was soon secured.

Head’s designs have been worn by the biggest stars of her era, including Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, and Cary Grant. As for her own look, that, too, was memorable. She would be seen wearing rather out-there glasses and a short hairdo, a look which later was widely held to have served as the template for Edna Mode in the Pixar film The Incredibles.

Tom Ford’s career has been jam-packed. Between 1994 and 2004 he was the head of Gucci, where he changed the brand’s preference for minimalist designs, introducing a more flamboyant vibe. His approach worked, because sales reportedly went from something like $230 million to as high as an eye-watering $3 billion.

After his reign at Gucci came to an end, Ford set up his own label, which also proved to be a big success. All in all, he’s picked up major fashion awards from his time both at Gucci and working on his own brand, plus he’s also a very successful filmmaker. He’s even been nominated for a Golden Globe.

Marc Jacobs is another designer who’s been around a little. Aside from starting the eponymous label we all know today, he also worked at Perry Ellis during the early days of his career. He later took up the creative directorship at Louis Vuitton, a prestigious role he held between 1997 and 2014.

Jacobs remains a major figure of the fashion world today, and he has already established a rich legacy. Most notable, perhaps, are his contributions to the fashion of the grunge scene we saw in the ’90s. His was a style that captured the attention of some of that decade’s most famous ladies, including Kate Moss and Winoda Ryder.

Toward the end of the ’90s and into the 2000s, Alexander McQueen was a force with which to be reckoned. Not only did he push boundaries within the fashion industry, he totally destroyed them. His work for Givenchy and his own brand was extremely unorthodox — and he gained a great deal of acclaim for it.

During one of his shows, McQueen employed a model who walked with the help of prostheses. This was extremely unusual for the time, but it illustrated his willingness to break convention. As he himself once said, “You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I am here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”

Karl Lagerfield left quite the mark on the fashion industry during his lifetime. It’s said he elevated Chanel’s popularity immensely, plus he also contributed to the success of Tommy Hilfiger and Fendi — and that’s to say nothing of his own brand. Few other figures have had quite so wide-ranging an impact.

After Lagerfield’s death in 2019 the head of the British Fashion Council gave a speech where his legacy was neatly summed up. Caroline Rush reflected, “His unrivaled contribution to the fashion industry changed the way women dress and perceive fashion. He inspired generations of young designers and will continue to do so.”

Though the name “Prada” is synonymous with high fashion and success nowadays, it wasn’t always so. During its founder Mario Prada’s reign, the brand was fairly modest. But we saw a big change in its fortunes after control of the business passed onto Mario’s granddaughter, Miuccia Prada. Under her leadership, the brand is now worth billions.

Prada’s success in overhauling the family business is often attributed to her rule-breaking approach. Her first real foray into popularity occurred in the mid-’80s, after the brand introduced black bags with a subtle approach to labeling, which was unusual for the time. Other experiments of hers have included a see-through rain jacket that changed color when water hit it.

Donna Karan is widely considered to be up with the most influential designers out there. Among other things, one of her lasting legacies has been to normalize an uptown-New-York-chic style, bringing it to people all over the world. Her clothes are widely regarded as being both comfy and stylish at the same time.

When she was getting started back in the mid-’80s, her aim was always to produce clothing that women could wear without discomfort. She later went on to found DKNY, which was aimed at a younger demographic. That move into the youth market was apparently inspired by her own child, Gaby.