If any industry should be dominated by women it’s fashion, which is why it remains so surprising that the top echelons are, in many ways, a boys club. But that could all be changing, because there are some seriously powerful women in fashion who are poised to take things over.
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Women are forging their way to the top, and the CFDAs serve as proof: In 2014, not one single woman was nominated for the Womenswear Designer of the Year Award, but in 2016 four of the eight nominees for the same award were female. We still have a little work to do, ladies, but were on our way.
That being said, there is an abundance of powerful women in fashion, whose accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary. From Sara Blakely—Spanx’s founder and CEO—who created a multi-billion shapewear empire, to Song of Style’s Aimee Song, who’s proved firsthand that blogging can mean big business, women are continually proving to be fashion’s best innovators.
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So how did we decide who to include on our list of the 50 most powerful women in fashion? First we considered the diversity of high-powered jobs in fashion—from retail executives, to entrepreneurs, to media titans. Then we looked at the numbers, from the women overseeing billion dollar empires, to those with social media followers in the millions. Ultimately, the list reflects the range of women who are shaping the fashion industry today.
Click through the gallery to see our 50 Most Powerful Women In Fashion list, keeping in mind that the list is organized in alphabetical order.
Originally published September 2014. Updated March 2017.
