Designers

Dries Van Noten

Born in Antwerp in 1958 Dries Van Noten’s family was part of the tailoring trade and at the age of 18 he entered the fashion design course at Antwerp’s Royal Academy. After initially working freelance, Noten started his own menswear collection in 1986 and has since remained chief Creative Officer and chairman of the board. The brand is known for its blend of avant-garde and classical style ready-to-wear garments. Notably the use of fabrics and how the designs incorporate striking patterns to create risky and unexpected color palettes. Dries Van Noten finds inspiration from many aspects of life such as nature, art, and music, and often finds inspiration from different cultures. The style of the brand has been noted as elegant and timeless.  

Tom Ford (Gucci)

An American designer, Tom Ford was born in 1961 and initially graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in architecture. Still, it was after a year and a half in Paris that inspired his interest in fashion design. After school, he worked for Cathy Hardwick and later Perry Ellis before moving to Europe. He started working for Gucci in 1990, becoming Design Director by 1992. Later he became Creative Director in 1994, managing both Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent after Gucci had acquired it in 1999. Ford later broke away from Gucci, finding his own brand in 2004. Tom Ford is known for making provocative statements with his fashion and marketing techniques. While designing for Gucci, his design style was known as elegant, classy, and glamorous.

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein was born in New York City in 1942, and started his fashion company Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. The company first began by designing simple, well-tailored coats and dresses. Later in the 1970s, he introduced his menswear line and specifically started designing the brand’s jeans that the company is still known for today. Additionally, the company is well known for using advertising to promote its jeans and underwear line. The company’s fashion aesthetic is known for simplicity and comfort, with its menswear line described as pure American sportswear with style. The designs for the brand have continued to be easy to wear but stylish.    

Yohji Yamamoto

Born in Tokyo in 1943, Yohji Yamamoto lost his father in World War II, and his mother opened a dressmaking shop to support herself and her son. Initially, he graduated with a law degree. However, he decided not to participate in a traditional lifestyle, instead choosing to work at his mother’s shop to learn tailoring skills while attending the Bunka Fashion University in Tokyo. During his time cutting cloth for his mother, Yohji Yamamoto observed the fashion of the female clientele and rejected the highly feminine fashion. His brand debuted in 1977 with men’s wear designs for women clients to wear, later seeing him open a men’s wear line in 1979. He is known for an avant-garde spirit portrayed in oversized silhouettes with drapery in varying textiles. The brand almost works predominately in black, focusing on details such as asymmetrical cuts.

Burberry

The brand Burberry was first established in Basingstoke, Hampshire, by Thomas Burberry in 1856 to provide customers with outdoor wear. The brand was initially called “Burberry’s” and in 1879, Burberry introduced a fabric called gabardine that was water resistant. The company marketed the popularity of the water-resistant garments among famous explorers such as polar explorer Dr. Fridtjof Nansen to promote its outdoor usage. During the First World War, Burberry’s introduced their trench coat that would later enter civilian wardrobe as well. In the 1920s, the Burberry check was introduced as the lining for rainwear. In 1955 Queen Elizabeth II granted Burberry a royal warrant as a weatherproofer, and in 1990, the Prince of Wales granted Burberry a royal warrant as an outfitter. Later in 1999, Burberry’s was renamed Burberry and has gone through several marketing campaigns to keep it relevant with consumers.

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Jean-Paul Gaultier is a French fashion designer born in 1952 who is most known for using unconventional designs. He grew up in a suburb of Paris and, at 18 years old, became an apprentice for designer Pierre Cardin. After several other apprenticeships, Gaultier debuted his women’s collection in 1976. He later started a men’s collection in 1984, establishing a consistency of style of broad-shouldered jackets, baggy pants, and horizontally striped sailors’ shirts. At the start of his design career, Gaultier favored dark colors in his collections, such as brown, red, black, and navy blue. However, he has also used colors such as turquoise and beige over the years. His designs include motifs inspired by astrology, Celtic designs, calligraphy, and regional apparel worldwide. Along with the theme of unconventional designs, Gaultier’s menswear collection also frequently incorporates skirts and gossamer fabric.

Jil Sander

The Jil Sander label was founded in 1968 by German designer Jil Sander and is known for high-end designs that are modern, elegant, and minimalist. Like other fashion brands, the company started in womenswear, developing a menswear line in 1997. Since its founding, the company has changed ownership several times, first being purchased by Prada in 1999. The brand changed ownership again by being bought by Change Capital in 2006 and later by Onward Holdings in 2008. As of 2021, the Jil Sander brand is in the ownership of the OTB Group, with the original designer Jil Sander having returned periodically to the company since the Prada acquisition. Consistently during the different changes in ownership, the brand has stayed with the concept of “clean lines” and is well known for modernizing luxury.    

Comme des Garçons

Comme des Garçons was founded by Rei Kawakubo in 1969 in Tokyo, Japan, with the company established in 1973. Rei Kawakubo was born in Tokyo and is a self-taught fashion designer. She studied fine arts and literature at Keio University and obtained a degree in the “History of Aesthetics”. The name Comme des Garçons translates to “like the boys” in French and is possibly inspired by the song “Tous les garçons et les filles”. After its success in Japan in the 1970s, a menswear line was added in 1978. During the 1980s, the brand became associated with a distressed and punk-oriented style. Today the brand is known for its avant-garde designs and unconventional silhouettes using deconstructed fabrics, asymmetrical cuts, and monochrome colorways.

Dolce & Gabbana

An Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 by designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Dolce was born in 1958 in Sicily into a family that owned a small clothing business that he worked in, while Gabbana was born in 1962 and initially studied graphics but later switched to design. Both men worked as assistant designers for the fashion brand Giorgio Correggiari when they later met each other in Milan, Italy in 1982. They established Dolce & Gabbana first as a design consulting studio in 1983 but later, in 1985, the pair presented their first womenswear collection. In 1990 they debuted their menswear line focusing on an elegant and tailored style. The house has continued to provide ready-to-wear menswear with designs inspired by the Mediterranean style.

Valentino

An Italian fashion brand founded by Valentino Garavani in 1960 when he partnered with architect Giancarlo Giammettia. Valentino Garavani was born in 1932 and, at 17, apprenticed in Paris; afterward, he returned to Italy and opened his own fashion house. Giancarlo Giammettia was in charge of the business aspect, with Valentino being the Creative Director until 2007. The company became well known for using monochrome colors and tailoring, serving clients such as Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor. Valentino started a menswear line in 1969 and later introduced a cologne line for men in 1999 titled ‘Very Valentino for Men’. The brand has also expanded to include products such as shoes and scarves, offering both haute couture and ready-to-wear products for clients.  

Marni

Marni is a fashion brand founded in Milan, Italy, in 1994 by Swiss designer Consuelo Castiglioni. The company was founded alongside her husband and business partner, Gianni Castiglioni. Initially a side business for the Castiglioni family’s fur business, the label became independent in 1999 with a focus on fashion-forward experimental design. In 2002 the company started to open high-end department stores and a virtual store. While having no formal training in fashion design, Consuelo Castiglioni utilizes bold prints and textures to create new design aesthetics. The luxury fashion brand first debuted its menswear collection in 2002. The company continues to utilize inventive ways with its textiles, including designs, to create depth, patterns, form, and contrast using the materials.  

Bottega Veneta

The company was started in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in Vicenza, Venice. It was first established to sell crafted leather goods and is best known for its woven leather design using stripes of delicate leather. The brand utilizes the slogan “When your own initials are enough” to support the company’s concept of design and quality to produce luxury items. Afterward, the brand expanded its products, starting with shoes in the 1970s and launching its first ready-to-wear in the 1990s. Bottega Veneta released its first menswear runway in 2006. In 2001, the Gucci Group acquired the fashion brand, with its current Creative Director being Matthieu Blazy. The company continues to focus on well-crafted, logo-less, and simplicity-driven products.

Prada

Prada was first opened in 1913 by Mario Prada, who opened the store to sell leather goods in Milan, Italy. Later his daughter Luisa Prada took over the store until the 1970s when her daughter Miuccia succeeded her. When Miuccia inherited the company in 1978, she also brought in designer Patrizio Bertelli to advise on company business. Miuccia used nylon fabric to create waterproof backpacks and expanded the Prada line to include footwear in 1979 and women’s ready-to-wear clothing in 1988. The first ready-to-wear menswear debuted in 1998 with a boutique opening in Los Angeles. Prada is known for its clothes and accessories that are both classic and eccentric, with discreet elegance. The company’s design utilizes cleanliness, primary colors, and opulent fabrics.