by Catalogs.com Info Guru Rosemary O’Brien

You know their names, you’ve heard the buzz about their creations.

These are the designers who dominate the runways and fashion events around the world.

10. Donna Karan

Donna Karan, nicknamed The Queen of Seventh Avenue, began her career with Anne Klein and is one of the trending women’s clothing designers of the twentieth century through the present. When she opened her own company in 1984, fans found her. Her forte is clean lines and simple colors. Her other company, DKNY, was created to cater to the younger crowd with more modern and less expensive clothing options.

9. Valentino

Better known as Valentino, Valentino Garavani made his mark in Rome and then in the United States when the then Jacqueline Kennedy took notice of his collections. She could not attend a charity ball at which he was presenting his collection, so he sent samples and a sales person to her apartment on Fifth Avenue while he was in the U.S. Mrs. Kennedy was a fan from that point forward and his popularity in the United States was partly because of her appreciation of his work. She wore his outfits throughout her first year of mourning President Kennedy and then had him design her wedding dress when she married Aristotle Onassis.

8. Moschino

Franco Moschino (1950-1994) may have died young, but his fashion lives on through his brand. Moschino was best known for his avant garde clothing designs as he continued to ask, “What is fashion?” His is one of the trending women’s clothing designers because his designs were originally created as a satire of the fashion world of which he is now a major and important player. Examples of his pieces are a denim mini-skirt with plastic fried eggs sewn in at the hem or his quilted jacket sporting bottle caps. When he died suddenly at 44, his former assistant became the Creative Director of the company. Through her efforts, the brand lives on and flourishes.

7. R.J. Graziano

Trending women’s clothing designers are not popular for their fabric creations. R.J. Graziano is known for his stunning jewelry designs beginning thirty years ago with his first collection designed especially for Bloomingdale’s. When their Lexington Avenue window was dressed with his pieces, his collection immediately sold out. This fame has led to designing for such major department stores as Neiman Marcus, Lord and Taylor, and to collections created for various online shopping networks. Stars and celebrities consider him a major trendsetter in the jewelry world.

6. Alexis Bittar

This costume jewelry had a very auspicious start. He began by selling flowers from a pushcart in Brooklyn when he was ten years old. When he was a teenager, Bittar graduated to selling vintage jewelry. He was so enthusiastic about his enterprise that his parents purchased $300 worth of vintage jewelry as a birthday present to help him further his business. He specializes in chunky Lucite jewelry for which the New York Times once called him “The Lucite King” and his pieces have been carried by places such as Bergdorf Goodman, the Guggenheim Museum and Saks Fifth Avenue.

5. Alberta Ferretti

Alberta Ferretti opened her first boutique at 18 years old and designed her first collection at 23. This led her to cofound the company Aeffe, a clothing manufacturer and distributor. Over the years, she has since become a major trending women’s clothing designer presenting her Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti line at Bergdorf Goodman as well as signature styles in her own boutique in New York City’s SoHo area. Ferretti’s claim to fame is her twisting and tucking techniques and the manner in which she drapes the fabric on her pieces.

4. Jimmy Choo

Anyone who watches Sex in the City will be familiar with the name Jimmy Choo. His shoes are the mainstay for the fashionable set. It is said that although Madonna says she loves her Manola Blahnik shoes, she wore Jimmy Choo’s on her wedding day. Choo sold his shares of Jimmy Choo Ltd. in 2001, but he still makes custom shoes by appointment from his in London. In fact, he has a pair he was about to deliver to Princess Diana the day she died. He has kept that pair in memory of his dear friend.

3. Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney is the second daughter born to Beatles member Paul McCartney and his late wife Linda McCartney. She comes from a very talented family, but Stella McCartney’s style is her own. With her first collection in 1997, she established her style as having sharp tailoring along with sexy femininity. Her logo was even spotted under a tennis dress worn by Caroline Wozniacki at the 2010 US Open.

2. Helmut Lang

This designer is prized for his deconstructive and sometimes severe designs. Helmut Lang, and Austrian fashion designer, made his mark in the fashion world in the mid-80’s. He specializes in slim black or white suits which lend themselves to his elegant silhouettes and carefully-considered cuts and were also first know for his denim collection. His use of high-tech fabrics of good quality are one of his hallmarks. Although Lang sold his brand to Prada in 2004, his brand continues to be sold in upscale department stores.

1. Yoana Baraschi

Yoana Baraschi had an interesting start. She was born in Budapest and went to New York in 1978 after both of her parents died. She originally followed in her famous father’s footsteps, Constantin Baraschi, by achieving a BA in sculpting. When she got to New York, she began working as an illustrator for WWD (Women’s Wear Daily) until shifting her focus to designing shoes for designer for Mario Valentino. There she discovered the fashion houses around the world and has since made her mark with her love of color and traditional artisanal techniques that have found their way into her designs.