A place where creativity, activism, and free thought collide, the fashion world is often dismissed as frivolous. And while that may be true of the relentless fast fashion produced by multi-billion-dollar companies without a conscience, true and passionate fashion designers and lovers of craftsmanship are doing much to champion sustainable fashion and clothing with longevity.
People like the inimitable Vivienne Westwood, who shaped the way we see and wear clothes, always championing buying less and environmentalism, as well as using her designs as a platform to protest against anti-terrorism laws and nuclear disarmament.
And Ashish Gupta, who creates the most incredible pieces, including eye-catching designs that use bright beading and colourful sequins to challenge hate and homophobia with slogans like ‘Love Will Win’ and ‘Immigrant’. These are the people using their skills to try to change the narrative, and with that, fashion is anything but frivolous.
Here, we take a look at the game-changing pioneers of the fashion world, icons who are perennially stylish, regardless of the latest fashion trends.
Inspirational and iconic fashion designers you need to know about
Vivienne Westwood
A provocateur, activist, and cultural icon, Vivienne Westwood grew up in Derbyshire, UK, before engaging in the punk scene of 1970s London, and later exploding into fashion with anarchic energy, co-creating the infamous SEX boutique with Malcolm McLaren.
Utilising leather, silk, images of the late Queen, and Harris tweed, she truly ripped up the rulebook, blending historical references with rebellion. But it was her unwavering commitment to causes that made her truly heroic.
She campaigned fiercely against overconsumption, urging people to “buy less, choose well, make it last.” Whether she was storming runways with “God Save the Queen” tees or protesting outside Parliament in full regalia, her message was clear: fashion can, and should, be political.
A true original, she left behind a legacy filled with courage, outrage, and brilliance.
Akira Isogawa
Akira Isogawa is a quiet revolutionary in Australian fashion, blending traditional Japanese techniques with contemporary design. Known for his fluid silhouettes and hand-crafted textiles, he champions timeless, sustainable clothing over fast fashion.
From runway to stage, like his stunning work for the Sydney Dance Company, Isogawa proves fashion can be poetic, purposeful, and deeply connected to culture and craft.
Miuccia Prada
An intellectual rebel who combines art, politics, and unexpected beauty with sharp precision, Miuccia Prada not only holds a PhD in political science, but she transformed her family’s leather goods brand into a powerhouse of subversive elegance.
With roots in feminist activism, she challenges conventions with ugly-chic aesthetics and bold ideas, proving that fashion can be both thought-provoking and powerfully progressive.
Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen was fashion’s dark poet, a visionary who fused technical brilliance with raw emotion. Trained on Savile Row, he tore tradition apart with his theatrical shows that were both hauntingly beautiful and unapologetically bold.
From spine-like bodices and holographic runways to metal restraints and that spray-painted dress, he remains one of the most amazing artists of our time.
Guo Pei
Bringing Chinese craftsmanship to the global stage, Guo Pei is the queen of couture, creating opulent, hand-embroidered gowns that blend tradition with innovation.
Most famously, she dressed Rihanna in that incredible, bold yellow cape for the 2015 Met Gala, proving that fashion can be art, history, and pure spectacle.
Ashish Gupta
Ashish Gupta turns sequins into statements, blending glitter, glamour, and activism in every piece. His bold, hand-embellished designs celebrate love, identity, and inclusivity, with slogans like ‘Love Will Win’ and ‘Immigrant’ shimmering down the runway.
Drawing from both Indian heritage and London street culture, Ashish proves that fashion can dazzle and disrupt, all while championing joy and resistance.
Uma Wang
Known for her love of texture, drape, and raw-edged elegance, Uma Wang works with artisanal fabrics to create garments that carry depth and history.
Her designs are layered, textured, and timeless, often crafted in earthy tones and luxurious fabrics, made with a deep respect for her Chinese heritage and the handwork of skilled artisans.
Oskar Metsavaht
As the founder and style director of Osklen, Oskar Metsavaht redefines what luxury means by blending sustainability with sleek, urban design.
Inspired by Brazil’s raw natural beauty and vibrant city life, his work merges eco-conscious innovation with effortless cool, from Amazonian fish leather to organic fibres. Proof that fashion rooted in ethics and nature can still be bold and luxe.
Aadhitya Jayaseelan
Aadhitya Jayaseelan weaves ancestral Tamil narratives and contemporary art into wearable pieces of art with her 2025 collection, Home of the Gods.
With her bold, yet wearable designs, she turns clothing into sacred protest, proving fashion can be ritual, resistance, and radical storytelling.
Demna Gvasalia
Blending irony, politics, and streetwear into luxe garms with sharp precision, Demna Gvasalia constantly tears up the fashion rulebook.
From founding Vetements to reinventing Balenciaga, the Georgian-born designer who now serves as Gucci’s creative director challenges norms with oversized silhouettes, corporate logos, and a distinctly dystopian edge.
But the best part? Behind the shock factor is a deep critique of consumerism.
Donatella Versace
Donatella Versace is unapologetically bold, carrying on Gianni’s legacy while making the house distinctly her own. With glittering glamour, body-hugging silhouettes, and fierce femininity, she’s turned Versace into a symbol of power and confidence.
More than just opulence, Donatella celebrates identity and strength, proving that fashion can be fearless and inclusive.
Laduma Ngxokolo
Laduma Ngxokolo is a visionary knitwear artist who turns Xhosa beadwork and coloured yarns into luxury fashion.
Through MaXhosa Africa, he crafts vibrant knitwear rooted in South African heritage, honouring initiation rituals and storytelling by translating traditional symbols into modern silhouettes that are not only highly photogenic but timeless too.
Barbara Potts & Cathrine Saks
With their now-defunct clothing line, Saks Potts, Cathrine Saks and Barbara Potts blended contemporary design with sustainable values, crafting elegant, minimalist womenswear rooted in timeless silhouettes.
With a focus on quality fabrics and slow production, they challenged fast fashion’s wastefulness. And the result was anything but boring, as an array of celebrities from Lady Gaga to Rihanna donned the brand’s vivid and playful designs.
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Breaking boundaries with corsets, sailor stripes, and gender-bending designs, Jean-Paul Gaultier is fashion’s fearless leader.
Appealing to an eclectic array of fashion fans, his unique blend of haute couture with street culture challenged norms and celebrated diversity long before it was mainstream.
From his love of vintage corsetting to his men’s skirt suits, Gaultier proved fashion can be wild, provocative, and endlessly empowering.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel revolutionised fashion by freeing women from corsets and introducing effortless elegance. With timeless pieces like the little black dress and the quilted handbag, she championed simplicity, comfort, and modernity.
More than style, Chanel’s vision was about confidence and independence, proving that fashion can be both classic and transformative with a legacy that has truly stood the test of time.
Amesh Wijesekera
Blending Sri Lankan heritage and craft with contemporary tailoring, London-born Amesh Wijesekera creates timeless gender fluid clothing that’s both soulful and dynamic.
His designs, all of which are handcrafted in Sri Lanka, celebrate cultural storytelling with playful knits, weaves and crochet in colours inspired by simple street scenes and the wonder of nature.
Phoebe Philo
Phoebe Philo redefined modern luxury with her understated, effortless approach that uses clean lines and impeccable tailoring.
Her work as creative director at Céline was a masterclass in minimalism and female strength, gaining an almost cult-like following in the process. A Central Saint Martins graduate, she now focuses on her own brand, Phoebe Philo.
Yves Saint Laurent
A true trailblazer, Yves Saint Laurent fused elegance with rebellion by empowering women to dress boldly, freely, and on their own terms.
His tuxedo for women, Le Smoking, influenced by the style of the French model, Danielle Luquet de Saint Germain, changed the game when it came to androgyny. In 1983, he became the first living fashion designer to be honoured by the MET Museum with a solo exhibition; today, his creations continue to be adored across the globe.
Ritu Kumar
A pioneer of Indian fashion, Ritu Kumar is known for reviving traditional textiles and craftsmanship and celebrating heritage with block prints, embroidery, and regal silhouettes.
Ozwald Boateng
Challenging outdated ideas of menswear, Ozwald Boateng brought a bold new energy to Savile Row, infusing classic British tailoring with vibrant colour.
His designs speak of power, heritage, individuality and cultural pride, often utilising fabrics like Kente cloth. With A-list fans like Ncuti Gatwa, Burna Boy and Henry Golding, Boateng proves he’s got style and substance and is in it for the long haul.
Rei Kawakubo
Through Comme des Garçons, Rei Kawakubo challenged fashion’s very form, favouring asymmetry and deconstruction over convention.
Often described as avant-garde and fiercely abstract, her work rejects trends, focusing on concepts instead.
Manish Arora
Manish Arora is fashion’s master of maximalism, known for his kaleidoscopic colour, intricate embroidery, and joyful chaos. Drawing on Indian motifs with a futuristic twist, his work bursts with energy, humour, and heart.
From Paris runways to global pop culture, Arora proves that fashion can be loud, luminous, and unapologetically full of life.
Hanae Mori
A true style trailblazer, Hanae Mori was Japan’s first haute couture designer to show in Paris and the first Asian woman admitted to the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Couture.
Her designs, often adorned with signature butterflies, blend Japanese elegance with balanced structure and a certain softness.
Elie Saab
Born in Beirut, Elie Saab rose from a self-taught teenage designer to a global couture icon. His aesthetic is pure romance, opulent, intricate, and unapologetically feminine and loved by everyone from The Crown’s Claire Foy to Amber Heard.
Renowned for ethereal gowns, shimmering embroidery, and delicate lacework, Saab blends Middle Eastern grandeur with European elegance.
Kenzo Takada
Kenzo Takada burst onto the Paris fashion scene in the 1970s with vibrant prints and joyful designs that challenged norms and celebrated colour and diversity.
A pioneer of multicultural fashion, Kenzo’s playful spirit and inclusive vision reshaped global fashion, inspiring generations to embrace boldness and creativity.
Patricia Bonaldi
Brazilian designer Patricia Bonaldi transforms traditional craftsmanship into sparkling couture, fusing delicate embroidery and intricate beadwork with modern silhouettes.
Celebrated for her feminine, luxurious gowns, she elevates artisanal techniques to global prominence, showing how heritage and innovation can work in beautiful harmony.
Rifat Ozbek
Turkish-born Rifat Özbek is a visionary who brought multiculturalism to the heart of fashion, blending global influences with playful eccentricity. His vibrant prints, intricate embellishments, and bohemian spirit challenged 1980s minimalism, celebrating cultural diversity and craftsmanship.
Issey Miyake
Revolutionising fashion with his groundbreaking approach to fabric and form, including his innovative pleating techniques, Issey Miyake is a master at merging technology with artistry.
Drawing from Japanese tradition, Miyake creates clothes that are both functional, inventive, and timeless.
Yasmeen Mjalli
Yasmeen Mjalli is a Palestinian-American designer and activist who founded Nöl Collective with the aim of reviving traditional Palestinian crafts through fashion and promoting slow fashion.
Her collaborations with local artisans create garments that honour heritage and resist cultural erasure.
Lie Sang Bong
Lie Sang Bong previously dressed private clients before debuting his iconic ready-to-wear line ‘The Reincarnation’ at Seoul Fashion Week in 1993.
Fusing Korean calligraphy, Bauhaus geometry, and sculptural silhouettes, he launched in Paris in 2002 and earned acclaim as the ‘Korean McQueen.’
Zuhair Murad
Born in Baalbek, Lebanon, Zuhair Murad launched his eponymous fashion house in 1997 and made his Paris Couture debut in 2001.
Renowned for opulent, intricately embroidered gowns and skillful beadwork, his designs have become red‑carpet staples.
Dohun Kim
Dohun Kim, born in Gwangju, Korea, launched Andersson Bell in 2014 after studying and interning in Seoul.
His vision fuses Korean streetwear with minimalist Scandinavian design, crafting unexpected pieces that celebrate vintage denim and military elements.
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