There have never been more female designers – or more questions about why they sometimes still need to fight for their place in fashion. Vogue celebrates a global cast of women whose work and influence speak for themselves.
Sarah Burton, Alexander McQueen
Liya Kebede wears jacket, pants, Alexander McQueen. Photo: Bibi Borthwick
Last October, Burton departed the label she oversaw for 13 years with a show that was a glorious tour de force, underscoring her strengths: scalpel-sharp tailoring and exquisite artisanal effects.
Nadège Vanhée-cybulski, Hermès
Doutzen Kroes wears jacket, top, pants; Hermès; earrings, Ana Khouri. Photo: Bibi Borthwick
You likely won’t know her because – as always with the storied French house – the team comes first. But her impeccably made clothes resonate with intimacy and intelligence.
Kroes wears parka, shirt, Carven; pants, Zero + Maria Cornejo. Photo: Bibi Borthwick
For Trotter’s 2023 debut for Carven (founded in Paris in 1945 by Marie-Louise Carven), she played to her own strengths and that of the house: fashion and functionality, writ large.
Rachel Scott, Gaëlle Drevet, Aurora James, Emily Adams Bode Aujla, Catherine Holstein
Designers and mannequins wear fashion from female designers including Diotima, The Frankie Shop, Rodarte, Marina Moscone, Brother Vellies, Bode, and Khaite. Photo: Tess Ayano
“I struggle with the concept of a woman designer,” says Diotima’s Rachel Scott, “because then that’s all you are. Men can be geniuses, but women are ‘collaborative.’ ” The New York–based Scott’s work is almost always described in the context of Jamaica, where she’s originally from, and in relation to the communities she works with for some of her crochet. “But I actually think that’s more indicative of what it is to be a designer: people working together.” Scott is part of a cohort of designers whose fantasy is to dress our reality, our everyday. Such is the case of Emily Adams…
