9 designers that changed American fashion

Fashion designers, when creative, entrepreneurial, and courageous enough, have the power to influence and embody a cultural movement. Coco Chanel’s tweed suit in the 1920s represented the modern woman, a crusade furthered by Yves Saint Laurent’s menswear-inspired silhouettes in the 1970s. American fashion designers, in particular, have seen their influence in almost all aspects of American life. Sportswear and its surrounding culture, the power suits of corporate America, and sundresses donned by southern belles. For what would Oscar season be without the gowns or an NBA playoff game without its All-Star sneakers?

And while we could name a hundred American fashion designers who have changed the nation, these nine have, unequivocally, become synonymous with the American dream.

The famed jewelry company was founded by husband and wife David and Sybil Yurman in 1980 and has since become a fixture in American-made fine jewelry. Their signature cable bracelet was created in 1983 and has become a favorite of David Yurman’s celebrity customers, including Rihanna, Kris Jenner, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Named one of Forbes‘ Most Powerful Women in the World, Pennsylvania-born Tory Burch began her eponymous label in 2004. Burch launched the brand’s ubiquitous ‘Reva’ flat in 2006, a shoe that has now become synonymous with American prep fashion. The Tory Burch brand is now estimated to be worth a staggering $1.5 billion.

After graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in journalism, Katherine Noel Brosnahan met her future husband and business partner Andy Spade working at a men’s clothing store. The couple went on to found Kate Spade New York in 1993. By the late 1990s, Kate Spade New York had become one of the most sought-after brands for young American women and has continued to be so nearly three decades after its creation.

Spanning a 50-year career, Ralph Lauren has become one of the most pervasive names in American fashion. Lauren began his ‘Polo’ menswear line in 1968 and began selling womenswear in 1971. His Ralph Lauren brand and affiliates generate roughly $7 billion annually and have made Ralph Lauren one of the richest people in America.

Calvin Klein launched his iconic American brand in 1968 with a coat shop in New York. In less than 10 years, annual revenues grew to $30 million, and by the mid-80s, worldwide retail sales were estimated at more than $600 million. The brand grew in popularity in the 1990s with the emergence of the boxer brief and the accompanying ads featuring Mark “Marky Mark” Wahlberg and Kate Moss.

The New York-born designer began his eponymous menswear label in 1985 and just three years in, the Tommy Hilfiger brand had sales of $25 million; by the end of the 1990s, they passed $1 billion. The label became the first of its kind to sponsor the tours of celebrities, including Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, and Lenny Kravitz. In 1995, Tommy Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by The Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Two years after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in New York, Marc Jacobs designed his first collection. The following year, in 1987, Jacobs became the youngest designer to have ever won the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Perry Ellis Award for “New Fashion Talent”. In 1997, the designer was appointed Louis Vuitton’s creative director, where he created the company’s first ready-to-wear clothing line; a position he held until 2014.

After enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City in the late 1970s, Michael Kors went on to create his own eponymic brand in 1981. Almost immediately after his first runway show for Autumn/Winter 1984, the brand was bought by major retailers Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Kors was named the first-ever women’s ready-to-wear designer and creative director of French fashion house Céline in 1997 until he left to concentrate on his Michael Kors brand in 2003.

American costume jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane rose to prominence in the mid-1960s while creating bejeweled footwear for Dior. Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, became a fan of his designs and with her appearances donning Kenneth Jay Lane accessories in newspaper society pages, the young designer’s career was launched. Lane counted Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, and Audrey Hepburn among his roster of clients and in 1993, The New York Times compared him to Coco Chanel for having successfully made faux jewelry chic and accessible.