Greatest Designers of All Time

[rach2jlc]

This is certainly a hard topic to answer, but fun! Especially since the term "Greatest" is so hard to define, I think. Do we mean greatest all around? Or greatest at innovation? Or most influential? Or a mixture of them all?

Anyway, for me, I guess that "Greatest" would mean great design, innovation, influence, as well as the ability to connect meaningfully to a large audience. I don't necessarily mean "popularity" as much as impact. I think that there are probably MANY incredibly creative designers out there, but I believe that the "great" category is reserved for those who know how to get their designs out there in a way that impacts people in many ways. So, I don't think that I could put Yegor Zaitsev or Callot Soeurs on my list... because I'm embarassed to admit I've never heard of them.

Top 5 current designers:
Helmut Lang
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Alexander McQueen
Nicholas Ghesquiere
Rei Kawakubo

Top 5 current labels:
Prada (like them or hate them, it is impossible NOT to recognize their influence over the past decade or so)
Etro
Hermes
Comme des Garcons (and their 9 million other internal lines and labels)
Dior

 

[johnniecrystie]

1. Oscar de la renta
2. Givenchy
3. Versace
4. Balenciaga
5. Dsquared

 

[Jacque Marcel]

YSL
Dior
Chanel
Balenciaga
Galliano
Calvin Klein

 

[travolta]

madame gres for her liberating application of fabric on the body (inventing the bias cut)

issey miyake is a modern day equivalent of madame gres. i see his forms as 'non' fashion. instead of pinning many many pleats and draping, he creates a similar effect w/ heat pleating processes. instead of creating the 'effect' of liquid movement he creates the form is inherently made for comfort and movement. his 'statement' is in the product and the liberation of fashion as a symbol of class.

comme des garcons the true contemporary avant garde designer: she has her thumbs in many pies whether it be clothing, graphic design teetering on the edge of fine art, retail .... Rei Kawakubo is an excellent strategist. the main philosophy of her vision 'movement, never staying the same' probably is one of the most successful brand identities in the world.

 

[ChagueCouture]

i should apologise if i veered a bit off topic... it's just that i dont go in for popular couture.
I love the past... in my eyes all great fashion died after the 1950's.
thats just me.
I am a fan of fashion within the dates 1830- 1959
there are a few designers i like nowadays, but i enjoy full gowns, lace, hobble shirts and bustles. the corset and crinoline created the female figure divine!
when the british came into china the natives thought that when the englishwomen came off the ship their gowns brought in the sea with them. (could have been the opium talking lol) i chose YSL as one of mine because he incorporates alot of the past in his designs ( and because he was an innovator, having started out in an aprenticeship with Dior), and tom ford for his work with YSL and gucci.
I love norma shearer, greta garbo, marlene dietrich, and jean harlow.... glamour divine!
*p.s. coco chanel made comfortable clothes. they were not hideous and she wasnt a con... in the 1920's she helped women who were fighting for their freedoms to find the same freedoms in their clothes. and anyways she wasnt a bad person...she was a sl*t who dated nazi's and climbed over well made men to get to her position.... she was..confused.
:-) *

 

[LeLuna]

Designers:
Coco Chanel
Gianni Versace
Donatella Versace
Tom Ford
Yves Saint Laurent
Sophia Kokosalaki
Issey Miyake
John Galliano

Labels:
Chanel
Versace
Gucci
Dior
Biba
de la Renta

 

[taz]

YSL, Dior & CHANEL will last forever

 

[dhclam]

my choix

My choix are:

John Galliano
Nicolas Ghesquiere
Olivier Theyskens
Vivienne Westwood
Chanel
Balenciaga
Vionnet
and the most important-- Yves Saint Laurent, the master of all...