Jean Paul Gaultier is the French king of convention twisting: his runway shows have proudly highlighted tattooed and voluptuous models such as rock star, Beth Ditto, showcased gender-bending skirt-clad men, and featured infamously conical corsetry, as immortalized by Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. However unconventional, Gaultier’s designs continue to garner international acclaim, from his famed corset-shaped fragrance bottle to the Montreal Museum of Fine Art’s exhibition dedicated to the celebrated couturier, entitled “The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk”.

Occasionally irreverent, frequently deviant, and always brilliant, the late Alexander McQueen was a designer whose legacy is to be neither overlooked nor undervalued. From subversively dressed models and extravagant productions to robotic cameras and futuristic reptilian prints, McQueen’s dramatic showmanship was received with editorial acclaim, industry buzz, and celebrity approval from the likes of Lady Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nicole Kidman. In 2011, a year after McQueen’s untimely death, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute honored the designer with a retrospective exhibit entitled “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,” and today, McQueen’s long-time assistant designer Sarah Burton continues to define the house’s lavishly unconventional aesthetic.

Marc Jacobs, the king of downtown chic, is no stranger to public ups and downs. Plucked from New York City’s Parsons School of Design in 1984 to start his eponymous line, Jacobs found himself unceremoniously fired from Perry Ellis in 1992 after sending his infamous grunge collection down the runway. Today, he continues a reign of cool over his house label and diffusion line, and as the creative director at Louis Vuitton where he has continued to churn out covetable collections since overseeing the house’s first foray into clothing design in 1997.

Since his humble beginnings selling ties to classmates, Ralph Lauren has tapped into his entrepreneurial genius and expanded his business into what has become a wildly successful multi-billion dollar grossing empire – the biggest in the world. For over five decades, Lauren has stayed true to the American lifestyle with quintessentially elegant designs and classic tailoring. From the polo field to the street, he has created an internationally recognized brand that is truly representative of the American spirit.

Hailing from scenic California, the sisters Rodarte, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, bring a West Coast sensibility—and immense, innate talent—to New York Fashion Week. After graduating from UC Berkeley with liberal arts degrees, the duo embarked on an ambitious course of independent design study; since their 2005 Fashion Week debut, they’ve impressed the fashion crowd with an other-worldly mélange of esoteric references rooted in their Pasadena home-base. Rodarte has since become known for their immaculate craftsmanship and rigorous attention to detail—a favorite of style critics and celebrities like Kirsten Dunst, Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon. The Mulleavy sisters are likewise regulars at the awards podium, having received back-to-back CFDA Awards and a Night of Stars honor from Fashion Group International.

Kaleidoscopic colors and geometric prints are Pucci to the core, and from his first designs for his college ski team to his highly covetable silk scarves, Emilio Pucci has created a legacy that has seen several rebirths since his death in 1991. After the house was sold to LVMH in 2000, and in an attempt to foster appeal among the younger generations, a series of creative directors including Christian Lacroix and Matthew Williamson were brought in to revitalize the house’s image. Today, with over 60 years of design history behind it, the Pucci label is looking to creative director Peter Dundas to guide it into a fashionable future.