Women's History Month: Influential Women in Fashion

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Since March is Women’s History month, we wanted to share some of our favorite women with you! Here are five of who we think to be the most influential women in fashion history.

1. Coco Chanel

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When it comes to influential women in fashion, it would be impossible to forget about about Coco Chanel. You can thank her for the LBD, the “Chanel suit,” introducing jersey to the women’s clothing industry and Chanel No. 5 perfume. Chanel liberated women from corsets and multiple layers of uncomfortable clothing, as well as transformed the color black from a sign of mourning to a symbol of chic styling.

Today, the Chanel name is a symbol of couture, the epitome of chic and one of the most iconic fashion houses that is now run by Karl Lagerfeld.

2. Anna Wintour

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Anna Wintour is the current editor-in-chief of American Vogue. She is considered one of the most important, if not the most, women in fashion at the moment. When Wintour took over Vogue, she overhauled the magazine and re-established it as one of the largest fashion magazines in the world. Wintour is notorious for bringing fur back into fashion, mixing high and low end clothing and establishing new designers. Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, Wintour has held her ground at the head of a fashion empire for many years.

3. Diane von Fürstenberg

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Diane von Fürstenberg’s wrap dress has become an iconic piece in the wardrobes of countless women due to its usefulness in the workplace as well as its appeal to middle class women. The wrap dress was a more feminine alternative to the power suit and provided women with a way to be fashionable, yet still professional. Von Fürstenberg is also a very active member of the fashion community: she is the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which is an organization that gives back to the fashion community.   

4. Audrey Hepburn

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In the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Audrey Hepburn wore a simple little black dress; this dress is said to be one of the most iconic fashion pieces of all time. At the time, Hepburn’s sylph-like physique was not considered classically beautiful, but Hepburn managed to change that ideal with her grace, charm and excellent style. The designer Hepburn worked with the most was Hubert Givenchy. Together, Hepburn and Givenchy created a new standard of chic LBDs, menswear-inspired cigarette pants and many other styles—all worn by a woman with a boyish physique.    

5. Madeleine Vionnet

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Although Vionnet may not be as well known as Hepburn or Chanel, she still had great importance in the world of women’s fashion. In the 1910s, Vionnet helped revolutionize women’s clothing by removing corsets from dresses with the philosophy that a woman’s dress should match her personality. If you’ve ever appreciated a garment made with a bias cut, you can thank Vionnet for creating it. Vionnet’s inspiration for the bias cut came from classic Greek styles; she wanted to create clothing that was fluid and would work with each wearer’s body. At the start of World War II, Vionnet closed down her fashion house. But in 2008 the house was relaunched with Vionnet's vision in mind.

By: Katie Harbinson