Alexander McQueen was born in East London, in 1969 to a taxi driver father. Despite having the most unlikely start to life for a fashion designer (they successful ones are commonly privately educated/family funded), he has become world renowned designer.

He won British Designer of the year, three times between 1996 and 2003 and has since been named International Designer of the year, and been awarded the CBE

He often uses “shock” tactics in his fashion ranges, including the infamous “bumsters” (in his spring 1995 collection) and the tartan range “Highland Rape”

Links:

Alexander McQueen

2008 Collection

New York Fashion Magazine

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Stella is the famous daughter of Paul McCartney.

Stella studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM) in London in the early 1990s. While her education previously had been relatively normal, attending a state school, her graduation was anything but. Her graduation collection in 1995 was modeled, for free, by friends and supermodels including: Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon and Kate Moss. During the show the song “Stella May Day” was played, which written by Paul McCartney especially for the occasion. As a result the show made front page news and her entire collection was bought by a london boutique. Two years later, in March 1997, Stella McCartney was appointed chief designer of Chloé, a fashion house based in Paris.

Karl Lagerfeld, the who previously held the position stated: “Chloé should have taken a big name. They did, but in music, not fashion. Let’s hope she’s as gifted as her father.”

However McCartney’s designs have done well, both commercial and critical success.

In 2001, McCartney left from Chloé and started her own brand, as part of a joint venture with Gucci.

In 2007, Stella won designer of the year at the british fashion awards.

In January 2008, McCartney’s collaboration with lingerie label Bendon was released in department stores, speciality stores and Stella McCartney stores. The lingerie is in the colours of her signature palette: antique pink, blue, grey, and cream.

Links:

Stella Mcartney

Vogue

BBC

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Gucci was founded by Guccio Gucci in 1921 and is one of the most famous family run business in the world. Over time numerous brothers, sisters, fathers and sons have been involved in running it.

From this time on, The House of Giccui (its full name) worked to develop an exclusive brand and by the 1960s Gucci had developed its “GG” logo. The brand was perfectly advertised by the uber-famous Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly; who wore the “Jackie O” shoulder bag and Flora silk scarf, respectively.

However in the late 1970’s the family in-fighting and bad business decisions brought the company to its knees, almost causing the company to go bankrupt. During this period, the company moved into retail fashion producing accessories, perfume and even trimmings for some of the General Motors cars (?!). This sequence of events caused further splits within the Gucci family and ended with most of the family leaving the company.

In the 1980’s the company came under control of just one of the Gucci family: Maurizio Gucci. This stopped the infighting and resulted a huge turn around.

Gucci has since grown into the giant fashion house it is now famed for, and controls many other lines, including:

Yves Saint Laurent (100% share)
Sergio Rossi (100% share)
Bottega Veneta (100% share)
Balenciaga (91%)
Alexander McQueen (51% share)
Stella McCartney (50% share)

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Giorgio Armani was in Northern Italy, in a small town called, Piacenza, on 11 July 1934.

Giorgio started his fashion career working for Nino Cerruti (not to be confused with Nina Cerruti the popular perfume line) in 1961, another Italian fashion house, before he left to set up on his own in 1970.

On to 1974 and aged 40 Georgio, and his partner Sergio Galeotti, founded the powerhouse label Armarni. The house of Armani is best known for their clean, tailored lines and effortlessly stylish clothes.

The Company itself now has several different lines to furthur cement the brand in our conciousness, ranging from the accessible mobile phones and jeans through to the more luxurious hotels and cafes.

The company currently turn over $1.5 billion and Giorgio Armarni is reported to have a personal fortune of over $5 billion.

Armani Privè

This is Armani’s haute couture line. These clothes are all tailor made, and are not available in store.

Giorgio Armani

This is Armani’s signature label, is only available from 75 stores wordwide, and is the most expensive Armani label (with the exception of the Prive clothing line above).

Armani Collezioni

This is a high-end fashion line, it is only available in Armarni shops. It is sometimes referred to as a Armani’s “balck label”.

Emporio Armani

This clothing range is aimed at a younger market, and is also cheaper than the previous lines.

Armani Exchange

This line is for younger customer, like Emporio Armani, but features an urban style with T-Shirts, Jeans, and sports coats. This line is sometimes referred to as A|X

Armani Jeans

This line of clothes is the cheapest and most accesible line that Armani produce, again aimed at the youthful urban market. This range is mainly made up of denim products and is available in department stores across the world.

Armani Junior

This is a relatively exclusive line aimed at children. It can only be purchased in 15 worldwide boutiques.

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Innosense Designs is a small design company formed in 2003, whos influences range from street to pop art.

The company prides itself on producing unique products and they state that their products are “….all hand-painted originals… not one shirt you buy from us will be the same as someone else’s!”

Links to Innosense Designs: MySpace, Youtube

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