Who’s the greatest?
There of course is no real way to measure who have been the three most influential designers of the last 115 years, since it’s such a subjective question. Nonetheless, in a totally unscientific poll, WWD asked today’s creatives to list the three who they thought had the most impact. Some followed the question precisely, while others bent the rules a bit and listed either more than three, or less.
WWD had asked a similar question when it marked its 90th anniversary. And now, as then, the three who stood out the most were the same: Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, in that order.
Cristobal Balenciaga followed closely. And there were some surprises, with several designers mentioning Rei Kawakubo, followed by Miuccia Prada. Karl Lagerfeld was mentioned by some, as was Azzedine Alaia. Other modern-day designers who made the cut included John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, and Martin Margiela.
Here, a roundup of designers’ responses. Let the debate begin.
“Madame Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo.”
Wes Gordon, Carolina Herrera
“Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior and Mrs. Herrera.”
Michael Kors
“My favorite designers are the ones who truly impact how people dress on a day-to-day basis and whose designs stand the test of time. Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Halston upended the way that women dress, and their designs are still relevant all these years later. The modern fashion vocabulary would not be what it is today without their contributions to fashion.”
Norma Kamali
“The obvious are Coco Chanel, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.”
Paul Smith
“Yves Saint Laurent, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, The Antwerp Six, Maison Margiela, Chanel, Dior.”
Julian Klausner, Dries Van Noten
“There are many designers whose work has shaped the last century of fashion, but three in particular continue to influence how I think about clothing. Cristóbal Balenciaga’s mastery of shape and structure — his ability to sculpt fabric into modern architecture — has always resonated with me. His work feels at once restrained and radical. John Galliano brings an extraordinary sensitivity to storytelling, blending the past and present with such technical precision that each piece feels theatrical in itself. And Rick Owens challenges the boundary between product and concept — his vision is both uncompromising and deeply authentic. There is a design integrity in his work that refuses to separate the garment from the worldview it belongs to.
Each of them, in their own way, reminds me that fashion is not just about making clothes — it’s about shaping emotion and a quiet dialogue between material and meaning — where garments speak of who we are.”
Manolo Blahnik
“To choose only three designers from the last 115 years, it’s impossible! Fashion has given us so many extraordinary talents. Cristóbal Balenciaga was the master. His understanding of form, proportion and architecture was divine. He sculpted fabric the way a great artist works. Saint Laurent was the greatest modern designer of our time, he completely refined women’s style, giving bold elegant silhouettes blending the masculine and feminine. Azzedine Alaïa understood women’s bodies better than anyone. His precision, discipline and sensuality in his work is timeless. He didn’t follow fashion; he followed his own rules and the result was genius. John Galliano brought theater, romance and fantasy back to fashion. Every collection told a story, full of drama and craftsmanship”
Sarah Burton, Givenchy
“Alexander McQueen: Lee was a genius, a visionary. His work was personal, emotional and visceral. He transcended fashion — crashing the boundaries between clothes, art, theater, music, performance, history, politics. His work astonishes and moves people far beyond the fashion bubble to this day. Rei Kawakubo: The way Rei Kawakubo permanently rebels against every norm and convention, and even against herself is an inspiration. She stands up for the value of strength and creativity in its purest form.”
Simon Porte Jacquemus
“Karl Lagerfeld and Cristóbal Balenciaga”
Stephen Jones
“The most important designers of the last 115 years: Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior and Vivienne Westwood.”
Alessandro Michele, Valentino
“Elsa Schiaparelli, Walter Albini, Gianni Versace”
Raf Simons, Prada
“Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, Miuccia Prada”
Silvia Venturini Fendi
“Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld”
Tommy Hilfiger
“Coco Chanel revolutionized the way people dressed by introducing comfort, ease and elegance into everyday fashion. She had an unmatched ability to create designs that felt modern and timeless all at once. Her influence is still everywhere today — she didn’t just design clothes, she crafted culture.
“Christian Dior brought beauty and optimism to fashion with his groundbreaking ‘New Look.’ His silhouettes redefined femininity, combining structure with romance in a way that captured the world’s imagination. That kind of vision and influence doesn’t just last a season — it endures for generations.
“Karl Lagerfeld was a creative force like no other — he could honor a brand’s history while constantly pushing it forward. His work at Chanel and Fendi showed his genius for reinvention, and he made fashion exciting, aspirational, and relevant decade after decade. I admired his relentless energy and ability to stay ahead of the curve while never losing his signature style.”
Alessandro Sartori, Zegna
“My favorite fashion designers, for what they’ve accomplished and the transformation they’ve brought to fashion, are absolutely:
Walter Albini, for being a pioneer of the total look and for introducing, in the 1970s, the concept of ‘unimax,’ offering garments with uniform cuts and colors for men and women, anticipating genderlessness by decades; Romeo Gigli, for his incredible shapes, materials, and wonderful use of color, and Miuccia Prada for her ability to unite fashion, art, culture, and design, breaking traditional aesthetic conventions and redefining contemporary luxury, influencing the way fashion is perceived as a cultural expression.”
Catherine Holstein, Khaite
“Coco Chanel, Claire McCardell, Yves Saint Laurent.”
Willy Chavarria
“Cristóbal Balenciaga, Giorgio Armani, Patrick Kelly, Stephen Burrows.”
Martin Margiela
“Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Rei Kawakubo.”
Olivier Rousteing, Balmain
“Besides Pierre Balmain, of course, with his courage and bold vision, I can definitely say: Karl Lagerfeld, a visionary with an innate understanding of the zeitgeist that transformed heritage into modernity and boldly reshaped the concept of timeless in fashion. Yves Saint Laurent who turned fashion into a mirror of social change, fusing art, and liberation into designs that challenged convention and empowered identity. And then, Hedi Slimane that has distilled youth culture into a precise aesthetic, reinventing the male silhouette and merging music, photography, and fashion into a singular cultural language.”
Christian Louboutin
“Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Madeline Vionnet.”
Rick Owens
“Martin Margiela, Rei Kawakubo, Calvin Klein.”
Demna, Gucci
“Gabrielle Chanel, Martin Margiela, Yves Saint Laurent. The three most important couturiers: Cristóbal Balenciaga, Azzedine Alaïa, Alexander McQueen.”
Daniel Roseberry, Schiaparelli
“1, Worth – The invention of couture; 2, Chanel – The liberation of women. The invention of a ‘brand’; 3, Rei Kawakubo – The invention of the avant-garde.”
Jonathan Anderson, Dior
“Monsieur Dior, Madame Grès, Miuccia Prada”
Maria Grazia Chiuri
“The most important designers of the last 115 years to me are Miuccia Prada, Rei Kawakubo and Coco Chanel. They each broke with the established norm and changed what fashion meant for women and for the world.”
Michael Rider, Celine
“Impossible to answer, there are so many more than three.”