DESIGNERS/BRANDS (with a quick bio)
A- Alexander McQueen (British designer known for unconventional designs) He started making dresses for his three sisters at a young age.
B- Burberry (British tartan pattern (type of plaid pattern). Was founded in 1856 when 21 year old Thomas Burberry( former draper's apprentice) opened his own store in England.
C- Carolina Herrera (Venezuelan fashion designer based in NYC. Drssed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for the last 12 years of her life)
D- Diane von Furstenberg (Belgian-American designer known for wrap dresses and mixture of textiles/prints. She started designing women's clothes in 1970 with a $30,000 investment)
E- Emilio Pucci (Florentine Italian fashion designer known for geometric prints. First clothes designed by Pucci were for the Reed College skiing team)
F- Fendi (was launched in 1925 as a fur and leather shop in Rome, but today is owned by LVMH and Karl Lagerfeld is the creative director)
G- Gucci (founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921) Gucci introduced the banboo handle handbag.
H- Herve Leger (french fashion house founded by the designer Herve L. Leroux). He changed his name to Leroux after he lost the rights to the Herve Leger Name.
I- Isaac Mizrahi (Egyptian American designer and creative director of Liz Claiborne) Mizrahi presented his first collection in 1987 at a trunk show held by Bergdorf Goodman
J- Jean Paul Gaultier- (French designer) Never received formal training as a designerbut he started sending sketches to famous stylists at an early age.
K- Karl Lagerfield (German fashion designer- head designer and creative director of for Chanel and Fendi). He can recap any costume style in European history.
L- Lacoste (French company founded by Rene Lacoste in 1933) How to spot a fake Lacoste shirt: The knockoff's alligators don't have teeth.
M- Marc Jacobs (American fashion designer born in NYC)head designer for Mar Jacobs and diffusion line Marc by Marc jacobs and Creative Director Louis Vuitton. At 15 he worked as a stockboy at Charivari, an avant-garde clothing boutique in NYC.
N- Natori (Filipina fashion designer for Natori Company- high end lingerie) received Order of Lakandula, highest civilian awards in the Philippines
O- Oscar de la Renta (born in Domincan Republic) studied in Spain left to join Antonio Castillo as a couture assistant at Lanvin in Paris
P- Mario Prada (Milan Italy) Mario Prada didn't believe women should have a role in business and prevented female family members from entering his workshop. Ironically Mario's son had no interest in the business so his daughter Luisia Prada took over Prada and ran it for 20 years.
Q- since there's no designer starting with the letter Q, I decided to choose a prominent figure in the history of fashion. Queen Elizabeth was always dressed in opulent clothing. She was the inspiration for bodices to be more decorated completely in braids, trim, jewels, silk embroidery which male fashion also followed.
R- Roberto Cavalli (Florence, Italy). He invented and patented a revolutionary printing procedure on leather, and started to create patchworks of different materials.
S- Stuart Weitzman (American) Started a shoe factory in MA in late 1950s "Seymour Shoes" sold under the label "Mr. Seymour".
T- Tory Burch (American designer). Member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta at UPenn and worked at Harper's Bazaar magazine and a copywriter for Polo Ralph Lauren and worked for Vera Wang. Her Reva ballerina flats are named after her mother.
U- Emanuel Ungaro (Italian born, but French designer) At the age of 25 he was the assistant to Cristobal Balenciaga.
V- Gianni Versace (Italian fashion label) After Gianni was killed in 1997, his sister Donatella former vice president stepped in as creative director and his older brother Santo became CEO.
W- Vera Wang (American fashion designer). With Rach being her intern, I learned that Vera, though she's very thin, she prefers to wear a size medium and size 6 in her clothes. She was also a senior fashion editor for Vogue for 16 years and left after being turned down for the editor-in-chief by Anna Wintour and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for 2 years.
Y- Yves Saint Laurent (Algerian-born French designer) Submitted 3 sketches to a contest for young fashion designers, organized by the Internation al Wool Secretariat, and won third place and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Paris and met Michel de Brunhoff, the editor in chief of the Paris edition of Vogue magazine and suggested he become a fashion designer.
Z- Zac Posen- (raised in Soho, NY) As a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls.
Now you know your ABCs, next time won't you sing with me?
xoxo Karen
