Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895)
Charles Worth has changed the whole garment industry from something that was only a body cover to the most renowned art. Charles, also known as a Father of Couture, started his career by making dresses for his wife that became very much in demand throughout the masses. His most valuable invention in the clothing industry was using models not mannequins for the fittings. Charles started to produce his collection four times a year and presented it on the runway. He introduced the idea of the labels in clothing to popularize his name. He brought a new form of crinolines that made dresses lighter and more comfortable. Worth created unique pieces for royal families from all over the world at that time.
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883–1971)
“Chanel is not a fashion. Chanel is a style”
Chanel was the most famous designer in the world. She was innovative and the most modern courtier of the 20th century. Coco started a comfortable clothing line for working women. She was the original creator of women pants. Most of her clothes were made from jersey, before this fabric was used only for man’s underwear. The “little black dress” was her gift which is adored and desired by the entire world. Chanel № 5 was the first perfume introduced by a clothing designer. It became so popular that every five seconds someone purchases it in the world.
Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973)
Elsa Schiaparelli was an Italian designer known as one of the biggest innovators in fashion the industry in the 1930's. She said “Women dress alike all over the world: they dress to annoy other women”. Elsa shocked Paris and the whole world with her fashion conceptions. She was the first one to present clothing with zippers. The wrap around dress was her idea not Diane von Furstenberg. Hot pink or fuchsia color became her designer touch. Surrealism inspired her to give birth to boot-shaped hats, phone-shaped bags, food and pills looking accessories. She brought the new idea of a fashion show with music, a runway and art. Schiaparelli was not only a clothing designer, but she was an artist.
Christian Dior (1905 – 1957)
Christian Dior was a well known designer of both the 20th and 21st century. After year of war when women clothing was simple and puritanical, he brought back corsets, crinolines and luxury fabrics. He presented his first collection the “New Look” in 1947. It was full of rounded shoulders, a cinched waist, and long skirts. His concept was not new, but he revived a reputation of post-war France as capital of the fashion world. Dior was the first designer who decided to extent his business worldwide and opens a store in New York.
Karl Lagerfeld (born Karl Otto Lagerfeldt on September 10, 1933)
Karl Lagerfeld is a fashion designer, editor, photographer, designer, film maker and perfumer. One of his biggest investments to the fashion world was bringing back to the life the House of Chanel. As a freelance designer, he worked for numerous fashion houses such as Krizia, Charles Jourdan, Valentino, Fendi, Chloë. He also owned his own clothing collection. In 1994, Lagerfeld presented the "Wunderbra" and the "Wundercorset".
Giorgio Armani (born on July 11, 1934) According to Forbes magazine, Giorgio Armani is the most successful designer in the world. In 1974, he launched his own brand Giorgio Armani SPA. The line became very successful by being a top selling in America. First, he started with a men’s collection .Armani completely recreated the men’s blazer. He softened it by taking out the padding and lining. He was the first designer who started to divide his lines by consumer groups. In 2007, Giorgio was the first who presented live fashion shows on the internet. Armani was an innovator of the first designer cell-phone.
Mary Quant (born on February11, 1934) Mary Quant was also known as a Welsh fashion designer and British style icon. Mary is the original creator of the miniskirt and hot pants. One of her credits to the fashion industry was the creation of colorful and pattern stockings. Quant’s common styles were sweater dresses with plastic collars and balloon-style dresses. Most of her garments become the appropriate element of the “London Look”. The designer’s name became synonymous of mod fashion which was popular in 1960’s England.
Adrian Adolph Greenberg (1903-1959) Adrian Adolph Greenberg was an American costume designer mostly knows as Adrian. His biggest costume project was “The Wizard of Oz”. He became famous because of his collaboration with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as the main films designer in the 1930s-1940s. Adrian was a genius designer who created looks for the biggest Hollywood stars such Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Jeanette, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn and Joan Crawford. The designer made costumes and stage style only for women while his assistants created pieces for men. His costumes were made to display information about settings, characters and main ideas through textile, fit and pattern. In 1941, he left Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and opened his own fashion house.
