As a dynamic sector in global trade, the fashion industry is transforming at a great pace. It represents an ever-evolving market space that is offering incredible opportunities to individuals who want to build their careers in the apparel sector. Fashion has always been a rapidly transforming phenomenon on a global level and the credit goes to industry leaders who are always introducing some unique ideas confluence with a personal connection that helps us shape our lives and represent our personality via our apparel.
With that being said, we are presenting Top 30 Personalities in the Fashion Industry that you should watch out for in 2022:
Rosz (Rozita) Ramelan
An honors graduate in Computer Science & Statistics, Rosz spent a decade with Citibank jet-setting between Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Singapore, and Sydney as a top private banker advising high network clients. It was here that she realized the truly wealthy accumulate not just financial assets like stocks and bonds or real estate but also certain types of luxury goods (e.g. handbags, high jewelry, timepieces) that hold and appreciate in value over time. Kabinet Prive was born in 2010 as an Asian-based global platform to trade in luxury goods and today boasts a presence in Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong (soon Dubai & Shanghai) with an elite client portfolio in over 40 countries including the United States.
Donya Dardmand
Donya Dardmand is one of the founders of BEEBOSS, a company that builds products as well as online shops for VIPs, private people, musicians, and other influencers. With BEEBOSS, Donya is revolutionizing the era of the internet and utilizing it for the profit of sellers who want to take their business online. To offer their customers a seamless experience, they take care of their every business need, such as production, designing, planning, and marketing. With a team of 70 influencers, they are offering a unique yet effective approach to product marketing. Their approach has helped them get viral instantly.
Donya also collaborated with recognized brands such as H&M, Fashionnova, Intimissimi, and New Yorker. Their next goal is to have a BEEBOSS app for more user-friendliness and convenience of their customers. As a feminist, Donya believes in being a boss lady and making the industry more accessible to female entrepreneurs who aspire to become businesswomen in the industry.
Charis Michelsen
Set to be the face of the industry, Charis Michelsen, a fashion & beauty expert, renowned actress and model, and Parson’s School of Design celebrity alumnus is the inventor of a revolutionary Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stylist that offers better personal styling than what star stylists offer without making them obsolete or dictating personal style to anyone. She’s designed and patented a signature pattern that rivals that of Louis Vuitton, Goyard, and Gucci and has authored and self-illustrated the world’s most comprehensive beauty books, Hollywood Beauty: The Art of Star Makeup and Grooming for Men: From Dirty to Polished that fill the industry’s education gap. Charis, a champion for women in business, was named one of the “Top 30 Most Inspiring Women To Look Out For In 2022” by major business publication Disruptors Magazine and is the host of a glossy half-hour documentary-style TV show entitled Fashion Style Beauty.
Freddie Harrel
Freddie Harrel is famous for adding bold prints and sporting printed suits to her Instagram channel. She made her presence on Instagram in 2013 and is known for adding voice to women empowerment with the SHE Unleashed workshop series. While her series enthusiastically explains the issues and problems of female experiences including the feeling of otherness, identity politics, unconscious bias, racism, and sexism, Freddie has successfully bagged the title of Cosmopolitan Influencer of the Year in 2018. Besides adding fashion to her social media, she inspires various with her entrepreneurial interests and honest depiction of motherhood.
Tony Vincente
Tony Vincente CEO | President | Designer Rossario George is single-handedly bringing luxury lifestyle living to everyone. Rossario George established in 2018 in Seattle, WA started out from the idea that everyone should be able to purchase luxury goods without compromising quality. Tony’s vision began with the launch of a small yet well-received ready-to-wear collection and has since exploded to regularly available pieces that sell out in hours, must-have couture gowns and shoes, and a 5-star rated and certified cruelty-free beauty collection available in several retailers in the U.S. and as envisioned, affordable for all.
Both Tony Vincente and the Rossario George brand continue to garner the respect and adoration of fans and the attention of respected publications around the world including British Vogue, GQ, Tatler Magazine, and many more.
Erna Leon
Erna Leon found a gap in the fashion industry while shopping for her personal styles from online stores. Inspired by her interests in aesthetic clothing, she introduced MERCER7 which exhibits the finest pieces that are easy to wear and simple to style. While she aimed at keeping her creation minimal and effortless, she wanted females to easily get the right fit that adds flawless yet effortless charm to their styles. Erna has captivated the trust of various with her sustainable wardrobe essentials and investment pieces rather than fast-fashion trends. Her versatile and minimalistic styles have driven thousands of aesthetic lovers to her Instagram page and still growing.
Ceaira Grey
Ceaira Grey became an entrepreneur, in mid-2020, shortly after giving birth to her beautiful daughter, she started by developing a brand that allows her to live her best life. The path has been challenging, yet extremely rewarding.
Lauren Mair
Lauren Mair is the owner and creator of the clothing company, Ellemairco, a sustainable fashion store that curates its collection from recycled fabrics. Lauren believes that a new era of fashion is emerging and people want to get adorned with brands that are made well, with love, and with a sense of responsibility. From a very young age, she was admired for her abilities to revamp, change or create aesthetically pleasing works of art. A professional fashion designer and passionate creator, she grew her small fashion business into Ellemairco and never looked back since then! Driven by creative endeavors, Lauren has created countless bohemian statement pieces by incorporating recycled, and vintage fabric into the timeless styles. Today, while her sustainable fashion keeps inspiring clothing brands every day, she has successfully managed to sell worldwide on three platforms and in very renowned art and design shows.
Stuart McCammont
Stuart is changing wasteful and damaging fast fashion by giving eco-friendly product alternatives that are much better for the environment. This young entrepreneur has set up his own menswear brand, McInce Collections, which has its own eco-friendly collection. Along with a range of quality products, this eco-collection consists of products made from 100% organic cottons, like the organic cotton t-shirt, recycled materials, such as the recycled cuffed beanie, or a mixture of both, like the superior eco hoodie.
The clever bit is in the logistics. Stuart has teamed up with a global logistics company that fulfills the orders in the most local site to the customer. This cuts down on the carbon footprint and pollution caused by transporting and delivering the products. The waste from fashion and its unwanted or unsold products is astronomical. But if everything is made to order and delivered locally, this dramatically cuts down on waste.
Angel Melissa
Jamielynn De Leon
Jamielynn De Leon is the founder of one of New York’s fast-rising hairstyling salons, Rogue House. Hailed from humble beginnings, Jamielynn juggled her early life between her dreams and reality. She was one of a few people who knew exactly what she wanted from her life and pursued her passion for hairstyling diligently. Amidst the competitive lanes of New York, her talents and tenacity led her to launch Rogue House and since then, it grew ceaselessly in the city. Known for her charming and passionate personality, Jamielynn has been able to captivate the hearts of many with her artistic endeavors and exceptional understanding of styling trends. Today, she has successfully built a huge roster of clientele and thrives on three elements that set her apart in the industry: Build a place where people can trust their hairstylist, get the right amount for a hairdo, and let modern technology add its magic to the styles!
Michelle Kendrick Randle
Michelle Kendrick Randle was just 15 years old when she first started working at a luxury boutique in Cincinnati, OH. Being surrounded by the glamor and opulence of that boutique made Randle realize one thing: the world of high fashion was one she had to be part of.
As a result, Randle has spent most of her life in the fine jewelry business but her latest business venture is what sets her apart. In 2020 Randle opened Jacob James, a store that combines her lifelong experience with fine jewelry and her passion for luxury items but with a twist…
Unlike the boutique she worked in as a teenager, Jacob James specializes in previously loved luxury items, estate jewelry, and fine jewelry. Randle sources these pieces from all over the globe, providing customers with the unique opportunity to purchase rare high-end items previously only available in the fashion capitals of the world.
Juliette Espinasse Dubois
Juliette Espinasse Dubois is a founder of July of St Barth. Her brand was originally specialized in the creation of hats and bags. However, Julliette wanted to do more. Because she comes from a family of lavender producers and distillers since 1863, she was always passionate about perfumes along with fashion as a child. She soon launched her perfume brand in 2014 and captivated a large market of perfume lovers. For more than 30 years, her brand has distinguished itself and marked its prominence in luxurious creations. The brand reflects the concept of ‘free woman’ that aims to transport them to the Caribbean while combining it with French luxury and art. In 2017, Juliette also launched her new ‘July St Barthelemy’ collection where she shares her values, feelings and life story with the range of these perfumes. Juliette Dubois Couture is another brainchild of Juliette. It’s a boutique that specializes in creating one-of-a-kind wedding dresses that accentuates your D-Day even more. Today, Juliette is a successful founder of six brands and has managed to pin 20 outlets around the world till now.
Vina Tsai
Vina is a fast learner with diverse experience across industries including finance, politics, marketing, influencer marketing and management. As a self-motivated and self-disciplined individual, she continues to enhance her personal and professional competencies. Vina is the founder of the fashion brand Medusa’s Armour, which aims to promote positivity, empowerment and creativity, inspiring customers to express themselves through its products.
She is also the founder of Vina Tsai Holdings Ltd. and Capina Asset Management – a Private Investment and Asset Group focused on sustainable investment that includes real estate acquisition, disposition, leasing, and investing in sustainable communities. As a young entrepreneur, Vina is very open-minded, humble and always willing to embrace effective changes, challenges and diversity. She is interested in a wide range of industries including venture capital, technology, media, non-profit organizations and charities with a particular focus on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Disaster and Human Relief, Education, Economic Empowerment, Children and Hunger.
Zarya Azadi
David Paulus
David Paulus (1986), born and raised in Curaçao (Netherlands), is one of the self-educated and self-supporting upcoming artists and fashion designers. David Paulus differs from most young designers in his vision. David creates ‘Art Couture’ and is in that way non-conforming to the regular world of fashion and Art. David has shown some spectacular themes such as “Alice & the dolls” in 2011 (one of his very first shows), “The birth of the psycho” in 2012, “The Nutcracker” in the Talent Lab of the Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2013 and in Paris fashion week 2019.
David Paulus not only designs his own fabrics (e.g. sketched portraits of Anna Wintour in his “No Name”-collection in 2013), but also produces all of his own shows; location, models, music, and choreography! Quote: Let your imagination take over !!!
Susie Taaffe
Susie is leading the charge on the ‘anti-shapewear’ movement. Passionate about healing body image issues and helping women to love themselves exactly as they are. After seeing companies recommending wearing not one, but two pairs of shapewear to suck yourself in, Susie has had enough. Her message is loud and clear – you are beautiful exactly as you are.
She is the founder of Missy Massy, whose first sell-out product Petti-pants Underwear is designed to celebrate your body. Petti-pants flow with your contours and curves whilst feeling like you are wearing absolutely nothing. Goodbye chafe, visible panty line, muffin top, and uncomfortable elastic lines. They are categorically breaking the stigma that women are ‘less than’ without body manipulation. This is just the first of many products Susie plans to create for women. She is an activist for loving the body you are in right now – no matter what!
Kelly Jensen
Kelly is the owner of Chalk Dust Boutique, an online boutique that first began as a solution to help female educators find professional and affordable clothing. She used her expertise to quickly grow the boutique to specialize in both women’s fashion and now men’s fashion, as well as having options for people of all shapes and sizes, and professions, not just educators. The boutique has pieces that are perfect for work, date night, and so many other occasions.
As an online boutique owner and stylist, Kelly helps men and women around the world look and feel their best. Through keeping up with the latest fashion trends and getting to know her clients, Kelly selects each article of clothing and accessory with versatility, style, and clients’ image in mind.
Ameena Luckham
Ameena believes any dream can be a reality. The NEIT graduate and current Grad student have trained/ helped over a dozen entrepreneurs achieve their professional goals, in the North Eastern Region over the past 4 years. She most recently placed 2nd in the Miss JetSet 2022 Magazine Quarter-finals.
Her professional skills range from graphic and website designing to business consulting and marketing. She went on to launch a consulting company. Ameena is a multi-brand ambassador and model and is working on publishing her first book and podcast that covers personal and professional insights.
Since the Pandemic and its impact on businesses, she decided to volunteer her professional skills to help small businesses grow with the rapidly changing business culture. Two of her most exciting projects this Spring/ Summer are Inclusivity and Diversity Campaigns for two small businesses in Upstate, NY. She lives with her handsome companion/ ESA/ Model Zeus.
Agatha Taras
Agatha is a founder, CEO, and Creative Director of an exclusive fashion brand named Eklectic & Co. established in 2018 in Lviv, Ukraine. Her unusual and unique fashion inspired by the Victorian era, baroque mixed with modernity from the very beginning was met with great approval. From a little start-up project of a single talented designer, she has grown into an entrepreneur with its own manufacture, atelier, and boutique in the city center of Lviv.
The brand debuted during the Fall-Winter 2018 at Lviv Fashion Week and quickly became recognizable on the local market. After that Agatha has presented her collections also at Kiev Fashion Week, Vancouver Fashion Week and was quickly invited to the most prestigious shows around the world like Paris Fashion Week, London Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, and many more. She will be also part of New York Fashion Week this year in September.
She was featured in magazines like EGOIST, BASIC, APPAREL, VANITY FAIR, and many online articles. A turning point in her career was the recent signing of a contract with a giant Chinese investor, thanks to which the brand will become a significant power on the luxury clothing market in the Asian market for about 17 countries but also Australia and the United Arab Emirates. After that, she plans to reach further markets like USA and Canada. She is an economist by education, she moves on her motorcycle but also she is a licensed pilot with Private Pilot Licence on Helicopter.
René Mejia
Rene Mejia is a fashion designer from Miami. Originally from El Salvador, he migrated to the United States at the age of 10 due to the increasing crime and violence that was happening in the country at the time. At the age of 17, he started his studies as a graphic designer. While completing his courses he started to take a strong interest in fashion design. In 2016 at the age of 21, he was among one of the six students to present their collection at NYFW. The collection went on to make international headlines and was featured in Harper’s Bazaar China. In 2018 he continued his studies at Istituto Marangoni, the Italian school of design where Rene was able to complete his bachelor’s degree in 2020, which was an even more difficult task due to the pandemic. René’s Graduating collection is yet to be revealed.
Julia Aiste
The Designer, Julia Aiste, brings passion and an iconic brandIng mission, to create high-quality beautiful garments for women, perfectly meeting the values and high-level standards of a modern woman with a conscious and sustainable concept. The designer delivers timeless elegance with a taste of tradition. Julia Aiste Luxury Design brand was founded on the designer’s biggest dream, to create beautiful, comfortable, and extremely feminine garments for women all around the globe to look beautiful, enjoy themselves and let them feel like the modern Queen of elegance through wearing Julia Aiste luxurious clothes.
The designer shares true, irrepressible love and passion for everything beautiful, burning with unstoppable creative fire, inducing to create new universes of masterpieces in the endless search for “ideal of the significant form” and restlessly excelling in the iconic signature style. The designer’s talent was inherited through deep roots&generations, from her Great Grandfather, who was an interior and clothing designer himself. The brand is represented currently in boutiques in London, Monaco, Dubai, and Tallinn. The most beautiful, successful, and elegant Ladies of the World, such as Anna Bey, Arina Bernardini, and Angelina Kali wear Julia Aiste Luxury Design dresses.
Dian Kim
Dian Kim is the founder of Averse Risk, a womenswear brand based in Los Angeles. She has been working in various sectors of the fashion industry ever since she got her bachelor’s degree in business administration. She has worked in luxury goods, fashion wholesale, and as a social media and marketing manager in several fashion companies. All her experiences led her to create her own clothing label. She always knew she wanted to be her own boss so it only felt natural to forge her own path. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dian has been heavily influenced by cultures and communities other than her own Korean-American background. Averse Risk is a reflection of her own story. The name ‘averse risk’ was originally made to create a sense of security but in reality, the brand represents a completely different image. The clothes are unique and risqué yet influential and accessible. The brand was created for girls who stand in their power and know what they want.
Izzy Camilleri
Izzy Camilleri is one of Canada’s most innovative and celebrated fashion designers. Her designs have been featured in publications, such as Vogue, InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar, and Business of Fashion. She’s dressed A-list celebrities such as David Bowie, Jason Momoa, and Meryl Streep.
In 2005, a woman living with paralysis came to Izzy looking for some custom clothing. The glaring lack of options available to people with disabilities quickly became apparent to Izzy, and in 2009, inspired by this experience, she pioneered her most important fashion collection to date. The revolutionary clothing line IZ Adaptive, designed specifically for wheelchair users, has changed the lives of people all over the world.
Today, the adaptive clothing category is growing. As the thought leader in this space, many major fashion brands are turning to her for her expertise. Media outlets such as Forbes, The Guardian, The Washington Post and many others have done features on IZ Adaptive and the important role Izzy’s innovative designs play in helping make the fashion industry more inclusive. She is currently the Style Expert on a new TV show called Fashion DIS, featuring fashion makeovers for people with a physical disability. Izzy continues to create pieces that provoke thought and push boundaries.
Nora Swann
Nora Swann, the founder of Nora Swann Ltd., is a Pasifika creative entrepreneur who champions Pasifika’s engagement in the NZ fashion industry. With a solid 10 years of fashion industry experience under her belt, Nora has spent the last decade pioneering events that showcase the skills and talents of Pasifika creatives in NZ. Notable initiatives include the annual Pacific Fashion Fusion Show, her community-based mentoring program, Dressed In Confidence, not to mention, leading NZ’s first and only Pasifika modeling agency.
Nora’s innovative approach to Pasifika’s engagement in the fashion industry speaks of her ability to create moments of community empowerment, individual creative expression, and youth development. Her presence within the NZ fashion industry has caught the attention of NZ’s US Embassy, various government departments, as well as Hawai’i’s Fashion Week (2018)
Elsy Tabet Atallah
Elsy worked in the fashion industry for the last 30 years. In 2006, became an entrepreneur and started her own fashion accessory company where she was the creative director. She decided to take her love of fashion to the next level by becoming a fashion blogger.
She is very familiar with current trends and fast fashion and always daring with her styling. With her keen eye for colors and details, she can spot the “IT” item right on the catwalks. Her focus centers around combining pieces from high-end brands, vintage and affordable fashion showing how much versatility your wardrobe can have. She combines her expertise in color mixing and layering pieces in a very unique way for a fashion-forward styling that can be translated and adapted easily to fit your individual style and look. Her motto is: “the satisfaction I get by helping someone look and feel their best makes me feel at mine.”
Kirke Leinatamm
Kirke is transforming the fashion industry towards a digital future. Her international design studio Scopus Studio provides 3D visualization services, changing the traditional way marketing content is created in the industry. It would have sounded utopic if somebody told the 10-year-old Kirke that her love for dressing up her The Sims and Imvu avatars would be something she would do as a profession. Not just that – now she has a team together with whom they are contributing to reshaping the fashion industry.
Starting from simple product images up to complex animations and fashion metaverse, the Scopus Studio team is offering a whole new way of doing marketing for fashion businesses. 3D visualization can deduct even 70% in the marketing budget with better results. Scopus Studio is expanding rapidly as plans include an automated tool for visual content creation so that all photoshoots would be as fun and as fast as dressing up avatars online.
Saskia Baur-Schmid
Saskia is the conscious creative behind the zero-waste label Hyph-n. Hyph-n was established, out of the designer’s frustration and dissatisfaction with the current disability and mass consumerist mindset that drives the industry; and sets out to answer the need for authenticity within the fashion landscape by synthesizing environmentally friendly practices with cutting edge designs.
Saskia reimagines the power of creativity to solve a crisis of waste and unnecessary consumption, by focusing on zero-waste pattern-making and up-cycling unwanted dead-stock fabrics to create new solutions to sustainability problems. Her conscious collections have been recognized both in Australia and abroad. Most recently her designs were shown as part of the ‘Design for the Future’ showcase and shortlisted for the ‘Redress Design Award’. Through her label, Saskia hopes to inspire a slowing down of fashions cycles; that encourage less consumption, more wear, and more awareness of how our choices impact the planet.
Ellen Khan
Minimizing the wealth gap in the fashion industry – without sacrificing quality. KHAN, a start-up brand launched by 25-year-old Ellen Khan with a mission to move the industry forward in the world of minimalism. Ellen, a New York native born and raised in Queens, has seen the worlds of fast & luxury fashion and what little it has to offer. “What we know of today’s fashion industry is a dying breed that cannot keep up with our generation’s concept of self-expression and being inclusive on all fronts; from behind the scenes to modern-day society.” KHAN was built around the idea of removing a “target audience” and being inclusive towards the general population with its four core values; Affordability, Integrity, Individualism, and Acceptance.
Ellen is a first-generation American to Bangladeshi immigrant parents; determined to break barriers and move the world forward. She currently operates KHAN out of Brooklyn & Manhattan.
Daniel Hernandez
Daniel Hernandez is all about creating community. The internationally-noted fashion designer has shown his red-carpet looks and ready-to-wear clothing at New York, Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, España, Cabo Verde, and London among others. Wherever he goes, Hernandez makes new friends and connects people, fashion, and cultures. When you meet Hernandez, you become part of a global network of artists, designers, and community activists. Hernandez founded DH Male in 2020 as part of an international Guinness world record show representing the USA. His clothing and accessories are designed for men who want classic, well-tailored looks with unique touches, such as laser engraved buttons and Italian zippers. As a brand, DH Male balances the delicate act of adapting to aspects of modern design while remaining cognizant of time-valued societal expectations of the male style.
The “MALE SUIT” (Hernandez’s specialty) is viewed by his loyal customer as evidence of status, level of confidence, and implicit evidence of success. Whether a suit is off the rack or custom-designed (Bespoke), the DHmale suit will ALWAYS make you feel empowered. Daniel Hernandez includes a range of men’s sizes and his template designs have already accounted for common issues associated with the fit of a suit. Either for work or play, he further refines the template for each individual, creating a custom silhouette. One of the brand’s core values is respect for our environment. Hernandez exemplifies how he incorporates this by designing buttons that are biodegradable, sustainable, and are pigment customized to match the exact color of the fabric used, as well as upcycling former collections by other brands that would normally end up polluting our beautiful seas or by simply using recycled materials to print care labels or tags.
Final Thoughts
These fashion designers are inspiring a new change in the industry and creating trends that highlight your personalities. They are the next industry leaders who will empower the entire generation with the power of great fashion.
