Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the founder of the Chanel brand, and was credited with liberating women from the constraints of the "corseted silhouette," in the Post World War 1 Era.

At age 16, McQueen dropped out of school. He found work on Savile Row, a street in London's Mayfair district famous for offering made-to-order men's suits

Johnson entered the New York fashion industry right after college. She had won the Mademoiselle magazine's Guest Editor Contest, which earned her a job with the magazine's art department. A year later, Johnson landed a job as a designer at Paraphernalia, an offbeat New York clothing boutique.

Ferragamo made his first pair of shoes at age nine, for his sisters confirmation. He quickly learned that this was his passion!

Wang was senior fashion editor at Vogue for 15 years and then a design director for Ralph Lauren. She designed her own wedding dress, then opened a bridal boutique and soon launched her own signature collection.

In 1961, while on vacation in Paris, he was hired for his first real fashion job at Lanvin-Castillo. Within two years, he had moved to New York and joined the American design house of Elizabeth Arden.

Giorgio Armani became quite popular 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.