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American designers have always pushed the boundaries of fashion, especially during the 1960s to the 1990s. From the epic Battle of Versailles to glamorous grunge to C-suite chic, there are endless examples of how designers have helped reshape the conversation around American fashion, not just stateside but globally. However, a select few have continuously proven that their work doesn’t just have the power to change how we dress, but also how we present ourselves to the world. From the 1960s to the 1990s, no one reigned over the American fashion industry quite like these icons.
Ahead, we list the 21 most influential American fashion designers.
Ann Lowe
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Ann Lowe’s name might not immediately ring a bell for many, but this designer’s storied career is one for the history books. She is the first African American to become a famed and celebrated designer. Highlights of Lowe’s career include opening several successful dress salons, where she designed ravishing looks for debutante balls and the women of high society, as well as creating Jackie Kennedy’s silk taffeta wedding dress. Her work earned the designer the Couturier of the Year award in 1961, and recently, decades after her death, Lowe’s impact on fashion was honored once again with several of her works being featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” costume exhibit in 2022.
Anna Sui
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From crafting clothes for her Barbies at the age of four and moving to the Big Apple to chase her dreams to befriending Steven Meisel at Parsons School of Design and having Madonna as her first celebrity fan, Sui’s iconic career is something out of a fashion fairytale. The first-generation Chinese-American designer’s singular sense of style—a mix of bold bohemia and glam grunge—has earned her a reputation for not following the trends, but defining them.
Anne Klein
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Klein was a designer who understood how to dress the modern woman. As more entered the workplace in the 1970s, she knew their fashion wants and needs weren’t being met. In response, Klein developed the first modern, sophisticated fashion line for American women. Her stylish offerings of mix-and-match blazers, skirts, and dresses modernized their wardrobes and made Klein synonymous with stylish interchangeability and versatility. She was the only female designer chosen to represent the American fashion industry at the famed “Battle of Versailles,” where American and French designers faced each other.
Bill Blass
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When many of his design counterparts were whipping up fanciful clothing, Blass wanted to make sure that the clothes he made could be worn (and look good) in real life. A decorated military vet and one-time assistant of Anne Klein, he’d later rejoin her at the Battle of Versailles, and would go on to help define the “American Look.” Blass’ design philosophy was all about wearability instead of fantasy, taking sportswear to new heights with luxurious fabrications and relaxed sophistication. His work is noted for seamlessly working in classic men’s design elements, including pinstripes and houndstooth, into his womenswear, and he was the first American couture designer to balance both a women’s and men’s line.
Calvin Klein
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This master of minimalism has always found sensuality in simplicity. Klein’s “less is more” approach to design made his clothes wearable for everyday life, but his boundary-pushing advertising made them covetable. From Brooke Sheilds declaring that “Nothing comes between me and my Calvin’s” in the ’70s to Kate Moss posing with a shirtless Mark Wahlberg in the ’90s, the company has long used its ad campaigns to stir up thought-provoking conversations around its products from suits and denim to underwear. And Klein’s success doesn’t just stop with clothes either. Klein’s first-ever fragrance, Eternity, was an immediate success and still ranks as one of the best-selling ever.
Carolina Herrera
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Over the last four decades, Venezuela-born Carolina Herrera has become one of the industry’s most respected and iconic designers, garnering dozens of accolades and legions of fans, thanks to her signature sophistication and chic American elegance. When one thinks of Herrera, it’s impossible not to imagine the Venezuelan-American designer in a crisp white button-down tucked into a stylish skirt. Herrera’s consistent approach to dressing herself and her loyal clientele, including Hollywood starlets, uptown socialites, and politicians alike, has made her brand’s appeal everlasting.
Diane Von Furstenberg
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You know that favorite wrap dress you can’t get enough of? You can thank Diane Von Furstenberg for that. The Belgium-born designer launched her famous dress in America in 1974, and its popularity spread like wildfire as women entered the era of liberation and wanted office wear that was both feminine and flattering, yet office-appropriate. According to Forbes, nearly 25,000 dresses were sold each week after its initial launch, cementing the designer as one of the most commercially successful of her time. Von Furstenberg has become a beacon of style and confidence by living a life as colorful and bold as the signature prints that adorn her designs.
Donna Karan
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Karan’s success in the industry is the result of her commitment to empower women with the clothes, from her C-suite chic offerings to her statement-making ad campaigns portraying women being sworn as president. Another of Anne Klein’s proteges, Karan first found independent success in the ’80s with her Essentials line, which offered seven simple pieces that could be easily interchanged to create a fully realized wardrobe. She is credited with creating the concept of a capsule wardrobe. The designer continued to make her brand relevant to consumers by debuting a more affordable diffusion line, DKNY, which made upscale fashion accessible to all.
Halston
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Another participant in the Battle of Versailles was the godfather of 70s chic, Roy Halston Frowick, known mononymously by his middle name, Halston. He designed to free the American woman from the stuffy constraints of past styles by creating flowy, elegant, and sexy fashions, utilizing fabrics like cashmere and ultrasuede. His dresses would eventually come to define the decade’s look. Later in his career, the designer would become one of the first to license his name, which marked a major turning point in the industry.
Isaac Mizarahi
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No one gave America a closer behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to be a fashion designer quite like Mizrahi did with his 1995 documentary “Unzipped.” While the film certainly showcases the glitz of debuting a new collection, it also offers an unflinching look at the unglamorous parts of being a designer, with all the anxiety, doubt, and confusion that come with it. By revealing the multi-faceted life of a designer, Mizrahi made an enduring introduction to the American public and solidified himself as not just a brand that people wanted to wear but as a personality they wanted to get to know.
Marc Jacobs
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American fashion wouldn’t be as fun or unique without Marc Jacobs’ subversive vision. In 1988, he was appointed creative director for the sportswear brand Perry Ellis, and he spent a few seasons abiding by the house codes of wearable, familiar clothing. However, that all changed with his 1992 collection. Gone were the sharp suits and demure dresses, that were replaced by a hodgepodge of clothes representing the hottest trend at the time: grunge. Casual thermals crafted with cashmere and dowdy dresses became flouncy chiffon numbers. Jacobs may have received an incredible amount of criticism at the time but his sense of bravery, and dare we say brazenness, is what helped him reach the upper echelons of fashion, not only with his own namesake line, but also with his long tenure at the historic house of Louis Vuitton.
Michael Kors
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Kors has built a legacy as a designer who understands how women live and how they want to feel in their clothes: confident, chic, and in control. Ever since he had Iman sashay down the runway in a turtleneck and gray flannels for his first collection in 1984, Kors has never been interested in keeping up with the trends and instead just wanted his women to look their very best in his sportswear that forgoes all the pomp and circumstance that so often clutters designers’ collections: “The creative thinking behind sportswear is the same no matter where you are—it’s all about great pieces that women can wear every day,” Kors once said.
Norma Kamali
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What sets Kamali apart from her design counterparts is her willingness to constantly evolve and innovate over the course of her 50-year-long career. “Taste is an evolution and refinement of one’s personal likes and dislikes. This evolution takes place with a constant curiosity and interest in everything,” the designer once said. From the sleeping bag coat and sweats as sportswear to bodycon dresses and slinky swimwear to utilizing A.I. in today’s market, Kamali loves to push her creative mind toward the future while still honoring her brand’s roots of wearing friendly clothes.
Oscar De La Renta
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He may have been born in the Dominican Republic, but Oscar de la Renta’s fashion designs were beloved across the globe. He too was part of the Battle of Versailles and, thanks to the Americans’ win, subsequently earned the respect of Europe and became the first Latin designer to design for the French fashion house Balmain. The designer became famous for seamlessly combining European design’s extravagance with American fashion’s practicality. His goal was to champion a woman’s beauty, and he helped raise the style and public image of several U.S. first ladies, such as Nancy Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Patrick Kelly
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This designer may not have battled it out at Versailles in the ’70s, but he certainly earned the respect of Paris and the fashion industry when he became the first American to be admitted to the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, the governing body for the French fashion industry. This seal of approval earned Kelly a coveted spot in the history books of American fashion, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise given how thought-provoking his designs were. Kelly was never afraid to cause controversy with his designs that often subverted racial stereotypes. Fashion critic Robin Givhan once noted: “No other well-known fashion designer has been so inextricably linked to both his race and his culture. And no other designer was so purposeful in exploiting both.”
Perry Ellis
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Rewriting the rules and redefining American sportswear was always the goal for Perry Ellis, who once said, “I don’t make fashion—I make clothes.” But not just any ordinary clothes: Ellis made pieces that pushed the ideas of what our everyday wardrobes could look like with playful prints, head-turning hues, and opulent optimism. Ellis didn’t believe in gatekeeping fashion-forward pieces from the masses of America and it was that kind of mentality that made him a household name across the country. The designer may not have pushed the envelope of designs, but his wearable, relatable clothes made many open their wallets for years to come.
Ralph Lauren
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It’s hard to encapsulate just how profound an impact Ralph Lauren has had on fashion. His brand has become synonymous with an idealized notion of American style, one that is both timeless and innovative at the same time. From cowboys to preppy dressers and Olympians, the designer has always had the American spirit at the forefront of his work. His vision of accessible luxury reaches far beyond just clothes, and now includes countless other categories, granting his customers access to a once-rarified way of living. While he may indulge in a mass collection of race cars, Lauren has made philanthropy the brand’s mission, opening several cancer centers worldwide.
Stephen Burrows
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Burrows was the only African-American designer who took part in the Battle of Versailles, and with his figure-hugging, slim silhouette in color-blocked patterns, he proved himself to the industry as a master of forward-thinking fashion. After claiming victory alongside his fellow Americans, Burrows continued to find success with his “Stephen Burrows’ World” boutique, which opened at Henri Bendel in 1970, and by coining the “lettuce edge” technique, which is currently experiencing a renaissance, thanks to the regrowing popularity of the Y2K aesthetic. His notable fans include Cher, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Oprah, Farrah Fawcett, Taylor Swift, Naomi Watts, and Barbara Streisand, among others.
Tom Ford
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Timeless elegance, impeccable tailoring, and sexy silhouettes are the pillars of Ford’s design philosophy, helping him become one of the hottest designers of the ’90s. After brief stints at Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick, Ford took the reins at Gucci’s storied house. With an unapologetic love for glamour, he breathed new life into the then-sleepy brand and helped make it one of the most successful in the world. Countless designers have tried to recreate the Ford look, but none will ever be able to recapture the magic of his fashion finesse.
Tommy Hilfiger
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Hilfiger is a designer with an innate ability to market himself to the masses. After 20 years of owning shopping stores, Hilfiger took a leap of faith, launching his brand in 1986. He took out a billboard in Times Square that had onlookers fill in the blanks as to who the top four American Designers of the time were—Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, and lastly, the newcomer of the bunch, Hilfiger. This bold foray into the fashion scene made the brand instantly recognizable, and even more so once his iconic red, white, and blue logo ushered in America’s first moment of “Logomania.”
Vera Wang
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Wang started her career in fashion as an editor at Vogue. But her career as a fashion designer was catapulted in 1989, when she designed her wedding gown out of frustration with the limited and tacky bridal options available. With her eponymous line of sleek, sophisticated looks, Wang took the bridal market by storm, amassing a legion of celebrity fans over the years, from the likes of Mariah Carey and Sarah Jessica Parker to Victoria Beckham and Ariana Grande.