America Tops The BoF 500
September 22, 2015
Alexander Wang Photo by Angela Pham/BFA.com
Diane von Furstenberg Photo by Angela Pham/BFA.com
Imran Amed and Greg Chait. Photo by Angela Pham/BFA.com
Paul Andrew Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com
Trey Laird Photo by David X Prutting/BFA.com
Nadja Swarovski Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
James Scully Photo by Hunter Abrams/BFA.com
Ed Filipowski Photo by Billy Farrell/BFA.com
Tory Burch Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
Tom Ford Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Thom Browne Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Shayne Oliver Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
Shane Gabiers and Christopher Peters. Photo by Max Lakner/BFA.com
Phillip Lim Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com
Narciso Rodriguez Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
Michael Kors Photo by Billy Farrell/BFA.com
Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Marc Jacobs Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Jenna Lyons Photo by Aria Isadora/BFA.com
Jason Wu Photo by Ben Rosser/BFA.com
Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough Photo by David X Prutting/BFA.com
Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow. Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com
Mickey Boardman Photo by Carly Erickson/BFA.com
Karen Katz Photo by Ben Rosser/BFA.com
Gigi Hadid Photo by Leandro Justen/BFA.com
Kevin Systrom Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com
Caroline Brown Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com
Jeremy Scott Photo by Madison McGaw/BFA.com
Floriana Gavriel and Rachel Mansur Photo by Matteo Prandoni/BFA.com
Today, the Business of Fashion unveiled the third BoF 500 list of people it considers most influential in shaping the global fashion industry. Judging by the numbers, Americans rule — they represent the largest contingent of influencers with 157 names. By comparison, the U.K. has 127, France 77 and Italy 66. And that’s just by nationality: the number of designers and executives who don’t hold a U.S. passport but are based here further boosts that number and demonstrates the strength of the American fashion industry.
This year’s list features personalities from a wide range of fields. In design, Greg Chait of The Elder Statesman, Paul Andrew, Peter Copping, Jeremy Scott and Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel of Mansur Gavriel were added to a lineup that already included Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, Tom Ford, Phillip Lim, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang among others. From the modeling world, Kendall Jenner is joined by fellow model and apparent bff Gigi Hadid this year, while new industry executives on the list include Ron Frasch, Caroline Brown, and Karen Katz. Jay Penske, Bob Sauerberg, Mickey Boardman and Matthew Schneier are among the media additions, as is Kevin Systrom, who accepted the Media Award for Instagram at the 2015 CFDA Fashion Awards.
Close friends of the CFDA such as Nadja Swarovski, Ed Filipowski, Trey Laird and Cathy Beaudoin also made it onto the BoF 500, where they were again joined by CFDA Chairman Diane von Furstenberg and President and CEO Steven Kolb.
Of all the new names, Catilyn Jenner quite possibly comes with the highest profile at the moment with Business of Fashion calling her “a fashion icon” and “emerging fashion plate.” So far, Jenner has proven to be a formidable ambassador for American fashion with a sartorial preference for CFDA Members Tom Ford and Diane von Furstenberg.
For the full BoF 500 list, click here.