Born: Bapaume, Pas de Calais, France, 30 May 1957. Education: Studied in Paris until 1975.
Born: Poland, 1944. Education: Trained as textile designer, 1962-66; freelance designer in France, 1967-69; moved to New York, 1969; moved to Japan, 1971.
Born: Judith Peto in Budapest, 11 January 1921; immigrated to the U.S. and moved to New York, 1947.
Born: Paris, 11 October 1889. Education: Studied business, Hautes Études des Commerciales, Paris, 1911-13.
Family: Married to business partner Joseph-Marie; children: Elisa. Career: Showed first collection, 1984; introduced Lolita Bis junior line, 1987; introduced signature leather collection and lines of knitwear, jewelry, and glasses; ready-to-wear designer, Cacharel.
Born: Christine Wetherill Shillard-Smith in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 12 December 1910. Education: Studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia, and at the Sorbonne.
Founded: by Levi Strauss (1829-1902) in the 1850s. Company History: Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco in 1853, and began selling dry goods to gold prospectors.
Founded: by Arthur Lazenby Liberty (1843-1917) in 1875. Company History: Founded as oriental import emporium, "East India House," 218A Regent Street, London; expanded, 1876, 1878, 1883, 1924; produced Liberty Art Fabrics, from 1878; introduced Umritza Cashmere, 1879; opened furnishing and decoration department, 1883; debuted costumes, 1884; introduced jewelry and metalwork, 1899; opened Birmingham branch, 1887; Paris, 1890; became public company, 1894; opened branch in Manchester, 1924; established Liberty and Company Ltd., wholesale company, 1939; acquired Dutch firm, Metz and Company, 1973; expanded men's offerings in flagship store, late 1990s; opened U.S.
Born: London, England, 1959. Education: Studied at Southend College of Technology, 1975-78, and St.
Founded: in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean (1872-1967), in Freeport, Maine. Company History: Company founded for mail order sales of Maine Hunting Shoe, patented 1911.
Founded: by Louis Vuitton (1811-92) in Paris, 1854. Company History: Vuitton was apprenticed to several luggage makers; began designing flat luggage for use on new railways, diverging from traditional iron hooped trunks used on horse-drawn coaches; LV monogram introduced, 1896; opened stores in England, then in the U.S., 1897-1900; Henry Racamier became director, 1977; merged with Moët-Hennessey to become LVMH, 1987; LVMH bought Givenchy, 1988; Bernard Arnault acquired firm and became chairman, 1989; Recamier departed and started Orcofi SA, 1990; acquired many design houses and brands, from 1993; Marc Jacobs signed as artistic director, 1997; ready-to-wear line launched, 1997; introduced menswear, and opened megastores in New York, Paris, and London, 1998; opened second Hong Kong flagship, 2000.
Born: Hong Kong, China, 28 August 1951. Education: Graduated from Hong Kong Institute of Design, 1975.
Born: Robert Gordon Mackie in Monterey Park, California, 24 March 1940. Education: Studied advertising and illustration at Pasadena City College; costume design at Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, 1958-60.
Founded: by Mad Maltezos and Suzie Carpentier in Paris, 1939 (taking over from Vionnet after her retirement). Company History: House closed, 1957.
Born: Main Rousseau Bocher in Chicago, Illinois, 24 October 1890; adopted name Mainbocher, circa 1929. Education: Studied at the Lewis Institute, Chicago, 1907; Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, 1908-09, and at the Art Students' League, New York, 1909-11; attended University of Chicago, 1911, and Königliche Kunstgewerbemuseum, Munich, 1911-12; studied painting with E.
Founded: in Malden, Massachusetts, by Henry Feuerstein as Malden Knitting, 1906. Company History: Malden Knitting expanded to include Malden Spinning and Dyeing, 1923; provided U.S.
Born: Bergamo, Italy, 1933. Family: Married to Aldo Pinto.
Born: Mann Lai-Yin in Hong Kong, China, 13 August 1946. Education: Good Hope School, Hong Kong, 1962-65.
Family: Married Suzanne Schwartz. Career: Launched the Andrew Marc line, 1981; developed leather and fur bomber jacket designs, 1981; founded Precision International for watch manufacture and distribution, 1986.
Born: Morristown, New Jersey, 23 September 1955. Education: Attended Montclair State College, Montclair, New Jersey; graduated from Parsons School of Design, New York, 1978.
Born: Louvain, Belgium, 9 April 1957. Education: Royale Académie of Fine Arts, Antwerp, 1977-80.
Founded: by Armi Ratia (1912-79) and Viljo Ratia in Helsinki in 1951. Company History: Fabrics introduced in the U.S.
Founded: by Achille Marmotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, within the Max Mara Group, 1980 (named after his great-grandmother, Marina Rinaldi). Company History: Launched first collection of larger-sized fashions, 1980; Persona line introduced, 1985; Marina Sport launched, 1986; knitwear line, 1987; set up U.S.
Born: Paris, France, 9 February 1962. Education: Studied economics and fashion design in Stockholm, Sweden.
Born: Tokyo, 1934. Education: Graduated from Waseda University, 1958; graduated with degree in fashion design from Bunka College of Fashion, 1961.