Businessmen, stylists, editors, influencers, celebrities and creators — each of them is a vital cog in the luxury machinery. With India being one of the world’s fastest growing luxury markets, today, names from the country play an influential role in the trade. Digging deep into this industry, we bring you 15 of the most powerful names in the regal realm of high fashion.
Bella Hadid
The supermodel with an Arab lineage has been at the forefront of conversations on diversity in fashion. Bella Hadid walked in over 35 ramp shows this year, including at Paris Fashion Week for Coperni, where the French label spray-painted a dress on her. It became one of fashion’s most viewed videos on the internet — not to mention one of its most defining moments. Off the ramp, whatever Bella wears becomes a sellout, be it Ugg boots or the Prada Re-Nylon bag. The model was named ‘Power Dresser of the Year’ in Lyst’s Year in Fashion 2022 Round-Up. She can also be credited for ensuring that the ‘weird girl aesthetic’ was one of the biggest TikTok trends of the year.
Bernard Arnault
He’s the man behind the mammoth LVMH group, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate that owns some of the industry’s most influential names, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Sephora. Last year, Bernard Arnault bought over Tiffany & Co. and is now working on the first Louis Vuitton Hotel in Paris. With all five of the billionaire’s children now working within the group, this is a company whose succession plan is firmly in place. For a while in 2021, he was also the world’s richest man, trumping both Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
An early investor in Netflix, there’s no question that Arnault is a businessman who has a pulse on the industry. His company can make or break the career of creators and recently bought stake in American streetwear brand Aimé Leon Dore.
Kim Kardashian
Love her or hate her, Kim Kardashian matters to fashion. From her Marilyn Monroe moment at the Met Gala to her refusing to be a part of Balenciaga’s next campaign after the brand released a distasteful, bondage-themed holiday campaign featuring children, fashion pays heed to her voice. It was only after Kim spoke out, saying she was reevaluating her relationship with the luxury house, that Balenciaga made an official statement of apology. There are few in the world who have eyes on them like her — from what she wears and what she says, to what she eats, this influencer’s star status does not fade, even when she finds herself in the middle of controversies.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
On the path to being India’s first global luxury label, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who received corporate funding from the Aditya Birla Group last year, opened his luxurious store in New York’s West Village just a few weeks ago — a shining milestone in his Kolkata to stateside story. He’s been setting the style agenda in India for well over 10 years now and has redefined how the Indian bride dresses.
A designer who has collaborated with Christian Louboutin and H&M and had his work retail at places like Bergdorf Goodman, Sabyasachi was the first Indian couturier to create flagship stores that were worth visiting for the interiors alone. He was also the first homegrown designer to create ‘it bags’ and break into the fine jewellery market in India, Dubai and New York.
Law Roach
The most powerful ramp in the world is the red carpet, and Law Roach is Hollywood’s most in-demand stylist, with a client list that includes the likes of Zendaya, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Venus Williams. Credited with the reinvention of Celine Dion, he calls himself an ‘Image Architect’. This year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America debuted the Stylist of the Year Award, with Roach becoming its first winner. Hollywood Reporter, too, named him ‘Stylist of the Year’ for the second year in a row. A celebrity in his own right and having appeared on several television shows, Roach is at the top of the styling game.
Zendaya
The Euphoria actor, fondly known as Queen Z, is a true cultural phenomenon. The 26-year-old has yet to make a wrong move on the red carpet, and no style list is complete without mention of her. The youngest two-time acting winner of an Emmy, Zendaya has shattered many a ceiling, and she loves to make a bold statement on the red carpet. Among her top looks of 2022 was when she wore a slip dress with a spider-web detailing and a hip-high slit by Maison Valentino for the premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Yvon Chouinard
Fashion loves to talk about how products can be kind to both people and the planet, but no one has proved this more possible than Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. He established the company, which retails outdoor wear, in 1973, nearly 50 years ago, as a mountain climber and activist who believes that profit and purpose work in harmony. Since 1985, Chouinard’s business has donated 1 percent of sales to the preservation and restoration of the environment and awarded over $150 million to environmental groups.
With sustainability an integral part of the company ethos, Patagonia is a certified BCorp firm. This year, Chouinard made the bold move of donating all of his stock in the company to a trust and a nonprofit that’s dedicated to fighting environmental crises. He said, “The earth is now our only shareholder,” as profits from the company he founded would be diverted to fighting climate change hereon.
Raf Simons
Just a few weeks ago, the Belgian designer announced he was shutting shop on his eponymous label after 27 years. A minimalist who became known as a voice for youth culture with his brand, Raf Simons and his label will be missed. He will continue as co-creative director of Prada, alongside Miuccia Prada. He has previously helmed Jil Sander and Christian Dior, where he was vocal about the pressure on creative directors to produce collection after collection.
Since 2020, his work at Prada infused new energy into the Italian brand. In fact, it appears as though the designer found his calling at Prada and can now concentrate all his efforts into his work there. So the closure of Raf Simons could signal a new start for the 54-year-old designer.
Alessandro Michele
News of his exit from Gucci a few weeks ago shocked the fashion world. Alessandro Michele was appointed at a time when the luxury house had lost its gloss. But under the designer, revenues grew from €3.9 billion in 2015 — the year Michele took over as creative director —to €9.7 billion in 2021. He brought critical acclaim to Gucci, making it the brand that set the style agenda.
A magpie at heart, Michele loves logos, vintage style and bold colours. He also brought to the fore conversations on identity with a gender-fluid approach to fashion. In his exit statement, the designer said, “There are times when paths part ways because of the different perspectives each one of us may have.” Hopefully, like previous Gucci creative director Tom Ford, Michele will start his own label. And there’s no question that fashion is watching his next move closely.
Maria Grazia Chiuri
The first female artistic director of Christian Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri has made being a feminist in fashion acceptable. It’s been six years since she took over the reins of this luxury fashion house, and since then, she’s made it modern, yet stayed true to the codes that Christian Dior laid down when he founded the house in 1946.
With regard to India, Chiuri has spoken up about the country’s crafts heritage, a legacy that few European creative directors acknowledge despite depending on our textile heritage. She believes it’s important to highlight Indian excellence and has spoken about it in several interviews. In fact, it took Dior Couture’s Spring/Summer 2022 presentation to highlight for a wider audience the Indian contribution to European couture houses.
For the show, Chiuri commissioned a mammoth 3,600sqft tapestry backdrop based on the work of two Indian artists, Madhvi and Manu Parekh. The textile was embroidered at Mumbai’s Chanakya School of Craft, with which Chiuri has shared a relationship for long. The tapestry was kept on display for a week after the couture presentation.
Imran Amed
Born and raised in Canada and with Indian roots, Imran Amed has become the first and last word in fashion. In 2007, the former McKinsey & Company management consultant launched Business of Fashion (BoF), a platform that both respects creativity and understands that commerce is what drives the multi-billion-dollar industry. From a blog that began from Amed’s couch in London, BoF has turned into the industry’s guiding light. It’s the website everyone in fashion wakes up to, as it has a pulse on the market. Taking into consideration BoF’s 2.5 million Instagram followers, podcasts, collaborative partnership with Financial Times and the BoF 500 Power List — not to mention its high-profile on-ground events — if you are in fashion, you want to be on Amed’s radar
