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A look at the highlights and impact of some the world's greatest, ground breaking and influential designers of the 20th Century. Featuring contributions from the UK's leading fashion writers and journalists we find out the stories behind these characters who lay the foundation for modern fashion we experience today.
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Episodes
1. Stella McCartney
22m
One of the most well-known and outspoken fashion designers in the world, Stella McCartney launched her career in 1995, when friends and supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss modeled her clothes at her college graduation. She received the VH1/Vogue Designer of the Year Award in 2000. In 2012, McCartney designed the clothing for Great Britain's Olympic team.
2. Versace
22m
Born in 1946 in Reggio di Calabria, Italy, Gianni Versace became one of the top fashion designers of the 1980s and '90s. He launched his first clothing line in Milan, Italy, in 1978. In 1989, Versace debuted his first couture collection. He continued to add to his fashion empire, expanding into home furnishings and perfumes. Throughout his career, Versace designed for such high-profile figures as Madonna, Princess Diana, Elton John and Tina Turner. He was shot and killed outside his home in South Beach, Florida, in 1997.
3. Calvin Klein
22m
Calvin Klein was born on November 19, 1942, in Bronx, New York. He studied fashion in New York City and apprenticed for a suit manufacturer. In 1968, he opened his own company. He was initially recognized for suits and coats, but his sportswear line became popular as well. He received three Coty Awards for womenswear. His business now includes clothing, cosmetics, fragrances and home collections.
4. Armani
22m
Born on July 11, 1934, in Italy, Giorgio Armani is an iconic clothing designer who has expanded his empire to include restaurants and hotels. His popularity skyrocketed in America in the 1980s when his men's 'power suits' appeared frequently on the television series Miami Vice and in the 1980 film American Gigolo, which starred Richard Gere in Armani's signature garb.
5. Karl Lagerfeld
22m
One of the most acclaimed fashion designers in the world, Karl Lagerfeld was born in Hamburg, Germany. While he's never revealed his true birthday, it's been reported he was born September 10, 1933. Known for his bold designs and constant reinvention, he's been hailed in Vogue magazine as the "unparalleled interpreter of the mood of the moment.
6. Ralph Lauren
22m
Iconic designer Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in New York City on October 14, 1939. Lauren worked in retail at Brooks Brothers before developing a line of neckties. The brand he established, Polo, is now one part of an international empire that includes fragrances, home furnishings, luxury clothing and dining based on a fantasy aesthetic of upper-crust life. Lauren, a funder of cancer research initiatives, has also used his personal fortune to amass a collection of rare and classic cars as well as a massive Colorado ranch.
7. Vivienne Westwood
22m
Born Vivienne Isabel Swire in Glossop, Derbyshire, England, on April 8, 1941. Considered one of the most unconventional and outspoken fashion designers in the world, Westwood rose to fame in the late 1970s when her early designs helped shape the look of the punk rock movement.
8. Mary Quant
22m
Immortalized by fashion iconography as the originator of the miniskirt, London designer Mary Quant had an art-school background and had been designing and manufacturing her own clothes since the late 1950s. She had one distinct advantage over previous designers: She was a contemporary of her clients, rather than of an older generation. Convinced that fashion needed to be affordable to be accessible to the young, she opened her own retail boutique, Bazaar, on the Kings Road in 1955, introducing the "mod" era and the "Chelsea look."
Extended Details
- SeriesDiscovering Fashion
- Closed CaptionsEnglish