Fashion Designers: Top 10

Twice a year the Top Fashion Designers take to the runways in the major fashion markets of Milan, Paris, London and New York for fashion week. Many magazines are filled with other people's opinions about who is the best in fashion industry. Well, here goes my opinion on top ten. After quite a lot of pondering, I came up with some names. So that is not a 1-10 from the best to less. These are the best from all over the board to my mind.

1. Dolce & Gabbana are fashion's answer to Viagra: the full throbbing force of Italian style. The winning- combination of Dolce's tailoring perfectionism and Gabbana's stylistic theatrics has made the label a powerhouse in today's celebrity-obsessed age and just as influential as the ambassadors of sport, music and film that they dress.

2. Stella McCartney's stratospheric success story has only a little to do with her fabulous connections. Born in 1971, she graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1995. Her final year collection was snapped up by the biggest names in retail(including Browns and Bergdorf Goodman) and a mere two years later her sharp-tailoring talents landed her the top job as creative director at Chloe. Like her late mother Linda, she is serious about animal rights and refuses to use leather or fur in any of her designs.

Her clothes are the height of class and speak volumes of her personal talent.

3. Valentino Garavani - who, like all megastars, is known simply by his first name -is Italy's greatest couturier and one of the most respected designers showing in Paris.

Valentino's signature style is "opulence" He is known for his meticulous detailing and magnificent embroidery. The perfection of luxury in Valentino is never ostentatious, but rather a very strong yet discreet appeal of shades stolen from precious stones, from the impalpable delicateness of powder and milk. Absolutely unique, incredibly elegant Valentino style contains all the best Italian fashion design and style.

4. Giorgio Armani is more than just a designer - he's an institution, an icon and a multinational, billion-dollar brand. Giorgio Armani became a household name when he "dressed" Richard Gere in the movie American Gigolo. In the fashion world, he made a name long before the movie.

The secret of Giorgio Armani's continued success is the quality of his clothes. Working only with the finest fabrics and materials, both fashionistas and conservative boardroom executives appreciate the highly refined and sophisticated clothes by Giorgio Armani.

5. Designer Tom Ford is a true heavyweight in the fashion world. He was working as creative director at Yves Saint Laurent, and fulfilled the same role at Gucci.

Ford opened the fashion house, Tom Ford. Beginning with accessories, Ford laid the groundwork for his swiftly-growing fashion empire. While all facets of his label have been received incredibly well, his line of eyewear were the first of his collection to really take-off, with virtually every celebrity from Brad Pitt, Lindsay Lohan, and Madonna to Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Aniston and Sally Field being huge fans of his eyewear collections. And even more, George Clooney has stated his fondness for Ford's menswear designs.
The Tom Ford line now covers Menswear, Beauty, Eyewear, and both Men and Women's Accessories.

6. Prada almost has a hundred-year history. Established in Milan in 1913 by Mario Prada, Fratelli Prada catered luxury leather goods to the rich and influential. Miuccia Prada, Mario's granddaugther, inherited the business in 1978.

Business acumen and cutting edge, Miuccia Prada continue to present Prada as a luxury good, following the footsteps of her grandfather. Her genius lies in choosing and mixing fabrics for both clothing and accessories, and putting them together as one piece.

"In the end, fabric is fabric. What is really new is the way you treat it and put the pieces together." - Miuccia Prada.

7. Donatella Versace (born 1959) is a goddess of fashion. The female figurehead of one of the few remaining family-run fashion houses, she presides over seven brands under the Versace name. Her flamboyant, party-girl image has become synonymous with Versace itself. Donatella started as an accessories designer at the House of Versace. Later on, she would start designing the children's line (Versace Young) and then Versus, a fashion-forward line where Donatella was named Head Designer.

8. The Gothic sensibility of a Brothers Grimm fairytale is closer in spirit to Alexander McQueen's clothing - than the fetish, gore and misogyny he's been accused of promoting. However dark McQueen's design, it still achieves a femininity that has seduced everyone from Bjork to the Duchess of Westminster.

9. Karl Lagerfeld is perhaps the ultimate fashion designer. Prolific and driven by-change, he is certainly one of the industry's most successful 'mercenary' designers. Yet he is far from a behind-the-scenes figure. Lagerfeld's ever-present pony-tail, fan and sunglasses are iconic; his personal preference for bespoke white shirts by Hilditch & Key, Chrome Hearts jewellery and Dior Homme suits is well documented. Karl Lagerfeld is well known for his "philosophical" quotes. Once, he said "When people ask me what I do, 'designer' seems inadequate. I tell them that I'm in the fashion business. But that is what happens with ready-to-wear. You become an enterprise."

10. Vivienne Westwood is a legend in her own lifetime, a designer who inspires many other designers and who makes clothes that delight her loyal customers.

There is an intellectual method to the madness of her creative energy. Historical references, techniques and fabrics are intrinsic to her approach to design. The results are unconventional and alluring. Vivienne Westwood subversive shapes and constructions have consistently proved to be ahead of their time. Today she shows her ready-to-wear women's collection in Paris and a menswear collection, MAN, in Milan.