Women Designers Who Impacted the Fashion Industry
The fashion industry is surprisingly one of the most male-dominant fields in the world. While more and more women are rising within the fashion world, there’s still room for advancement. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the matriarchal designers who significantly impacted the fashion industry.
Coco Chanel
You can’t discuss the greatest women designers without mentioning Coco Chanel. She was one of the most public designers of all time, which she took advantage of by wearing her brand at all times. This exposure helped rocket her popularity, and the Chanel brand remains trendy today. Her most notable item was the little black dress, but she’s also known for her extensive work with turtlenecks and trench coats.
Anne Klein
We live in the age of athleisure—this fashion style dominates the industry for its unique look, accessibility, and comfort. The mother of women’s sportswear is Anne Klein, born Hannah Golofski, who was the catalyst for this trend.
She designed revolutionary clothing items such as leather midi skirts, sweater vest cardigans, and A-line dresses. Her commitment to form-fitting clothing led to the popularity of athleisure, which focuses on complementing a women’s physique. Athleisure is also one of the best styles for women’s summer clothing trends.
Carolina Herrera and Vera Wang
Carolina Herrera and Vera Wang were not co-collaborators, but they both dominated the wedding gown industry. Herrera’s signature style incorporated intergenerational design, with a heavy focus on flamboyance. Her dresses were known for diverging from normal trends and embracing older forms of fashion.
Vera Wang made creme of the crop wedding dresses, and her company remains one of the most exclusive bridal fashion businesses in the world. She’s known for constantly evolving and never letting her style stagnate. Along with her luxurious dresses, she also has a long-standing relationship with Kohl’s, where she designs clothing for the public.
Madame Grés
Grés, born Germaine Emilie Krebs, is one of the matriarchs within the fashion industry. She was one of the first designers to experiment with different fabrics—she designed clothing to form fit the body, which she considered “perfection.” Her Grecian-style gowns incorporated rayon, polyester jersey, and silk. She tailored clothing to the individual wearer, which made her collections extremely alluring.
These women designers greatly impacted the fashion industry and blew the doors open for aspirational designers everywhere. Without their bravery to set new trends, the fashion industry would be significantly less alluring today.