Anna Wintour
Bow down. Anna Wintour's power over the fashion and style universe could never be denied. She may or may not be like the villainous editor-in-chief meant to evoke her in The Devil Wears Prada—but there have certainly been stories over the years of her tenure at the top of the Vogue masthead. In addition to helming the magazine and serving as editorial director for Teen Vogue, she's now also Condé Nast's artistic director at the same time—which only broadens and deepens her influence.
Rihanna
Is there anyone more fearless when it comes to personal style than Rihanna? From a thong made of denim jeans in her Instagram feed, to wild carnival costumes on the streets of Barbados, to glamour on the red carpet, the self-described bad girl always gives us an eyeful of her individual flair.
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham has never strayed from the chic, rich, impossibly pulled-together style preferences she displayed as Posh Spice. As a designer, cover girl, and consummate red-carpet strutter—not to mention David Beckham's other half—she continues to make women around the world ache with jealousy.
Mad Men Costumer Janie Bryant
Find us someone you know who hasn't been influenced—at least a little bit—by the impossibly cool '60s aesthetic of Mad Men. The woman behind that inspiration is costume designer Janie Bryant (who has been nominated for three Emmys for that work to boot). The look on the show has inspired couture designers like Vera Wang and Prada, and it also led to mass-market partnerships with the likes of Banana Republic and Brooks Brothers, resulting in totally accessible collections of vintage-inspired pieces.
Diane Von Furstenberg
The queen of the wrap dress for decades, Diane von Furstenberg still continues to innovate and surprise. Last year, she launched her first children's line—a mass-market collaboration with GapKids—with a second iteration this year. And Google used her Spring 2013 show for the runway debut of its buzzy Google Glass device, making a documentary with the resulting recorded footage. Haute tech!
Brian Atwood
From his early years as a model, Brian Atwood has come a long way. In a decade, he grew his shoe brand into an empire on his signature statement-making, colorful, towering heels. (And yes, we want them all.)
Target & Phillip Lim
Hats off to Target for continually upping the average guy or gal's fashion quotient by collaborating with amazing designers, like Rodarte, Missoni and Prabal Gurung. With his new collaboration with the retailer just out now, designer Phillip Lim's the latest addition to the roster, and his cool fashions are having a very mass-market moment. You might say his relaxed-refined style always had real-world, accessible appeal—and now it comes with an accessible price point too.
Nicola Formichetti
Remember Lady Gaga's meat dress? (That was a rhetorical question.) Nicola Formichetti, her longtime stylist, was behind that look and so many over-the-top others. Just this summer, he parted ways with Gaga and was recently named artistic director for Diesel.
Carine Roitfeld
After a decade as the editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Carine Roitfeld last year founded CR Fashion Book, where she's editor-in-chief. Through the new magazine, she's bringing what she's described as an entirely new vision. So far, that unique vision has included a photo shoot with a pregnant Kim Kardashian rocking a gold grill.
Michael Kors
We think Heidi Klum said it best, over and over again on Project Runway: Michael Kors is the "top American designer." His honors and accolades over more than three decades in the business are too numerous to count, but how's this for a benchmark of success: Michelle Obama, herself a style goddess, wore Kors in her first-term official White House portrait. Not too shabby for an F.I.T. dropout!
Jonathan Adler
The iconic designer Jonathan Adler got his start 20 years ago with a ceramics collection that launched at Barneys New York. Since then, he's expanded into home furnishings like tabletop, bedding, furniture, rugs—and most recently, handbags, too. His inspirations come from art, pop culture, and the mid-century modern aesthetic—and a work of Adler's is easily recognizable (as something we want in our house!).
Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie's style sense—and TV career—have come a long way since The Simple Life. She's every inch the sophisticated stylemaker—as a mentor on NBC's Fashion Star, as the designer behind House of Harlow 1960, and as an all-around great dresser with amazing boho flair.
Pharrell Williams
You may have had "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky" stuck in your head all summer—and, yes, it's time to talk about Pharrell again. In addition to music, the multi-hyphenate has his hands squarely in the cultural cookie jars of fashion and style. He's the cofounder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear, and has designed accessories for Louis Vuitton. And he's working on an environmentally friendly material and manufacturing process known as Bionic Yarn to make style more green. But it's perhaps his fearless personal style—from streetwear cool to red carpet dashing—that inspires us most of all.
Cara Delavigne
At just over 21 years old, Cara Delavigne is easily the model of the moment. She's strutted the runways for the likes of Fendi, Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, and Burberry—not to mention Victoria's Secret—and graced numerous magazine covers, all with her signature strong eyebrows.
Kate Middleton and Michele Obama
Was there any doubt the duchess would make our list? From pre-baby-bump newlywed, to the picture of pregnant-dressing perfection, to chic new mom, Kate Middleton can do no wrong with her super chic but also accessible impeccable style. Shifting our attention closer to home, let us count the ways we adore Michelle Obama as our national style icon. We love how the first lady's upped the game of her high-profile role with modern, even edgy touches—like those much-discussed youthful bangs. Extra points for making accessibly affordable dressing look so perfectly rich and chic. For being style leaders for their nations, for mixing high and low style, for proudly repeating outfits (like the rest of us), and for their ability to cause just about anything they wear to sell out in stores—we choose the first lady and the duchess as stylemakers, hands down.
Rachel Zoe
Stylist, editor and designer Rachel Zoe—who also happens to be second-time baby bumpin' at the moment—has an online influence (in addition to her real-world one) that's impossible to deny. Her daily e-newsletter, The Zoe Report, has hundreds of thousands of subscribers. And she's huge on social media as well, with more than 1.6 million Twitter followers, and close to 700,000 on Instagram.
Karl Lagerfeld
OK, so maybe the man who's said publicly he wants to marry his cat is a little eccentric—sure. But what authentic style icon isn't? Designer Karl Lagerfeld's influence on high fashion (and the mass market, too, thanks to a retail collaboration with H&M, for instance) cannot be denied. Recognize him by his signature dark glasses, dramatic white hair and the high collars he's rarely seen without.
Net-a-Porter Founder Natalie Massenet and Rent-the-Runway Founders Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss
Former fashion editor Natalie Massenet launched the high-end shopping site Net-a-Porter, with a sleek and chic look inspired by the format of a magazine glossy. (And she made a cool $350 million when she sold it a decade later in 2010.) It now draws 2.5 million readers monthly. In another corner of the Internet, Harvard Business School buds Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss cofounded Rent the Runway. The site has a super easy interface that allows women to rent high-end designer pieces for a special occasion (or whenever!) at a price they can afford. For making the couture world more accessible online, we choose Massenet, Hyman, Fleiss as cyber-stylemakers.
Chris McMillan
Chris McMillan was the stylist behind "the Rachel." Enough said, right? Well, in addition to styling Jen Aniston's Friends hair for that wildly popular and influential run, he's counted the likes of Cameron Diaz, Miley Cyrus and Gwyneth Paltrow among his clients, and his work has appeared on pretty much all of the top magazine covers. He's one of the most influential men in the business.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Whether she's playing Sex & The City's Carrie Bradshaw typing furiously into her laptop, or just real-life Sarah Jessica Parker, this star is the epitome of bold, individualized, fearless style. So inspiring! And now she's out with a new line of shoes with Manolo Blahnik—so all of us gals can get a chance to walk in Carrie's shoes.
Kelly Wearstler
Interior designer Kelly Wearstler—whose recent projects include decking out Cameron Diaz's New York home, and whose design credits also include Viceroy and Tides hotels—is the quintessential arbiter of California cool. From her personal style to her decorating projects, she's all about color, texture, and a very fresh-feeling interpretation of old Hollywood glamour.
Jenna Lyons
J. Crew's president and executive creative director, Jenna Lyons, is responsible for the wild success of the brand, and is one of the most recognizable female names in the biz. Not bad for someone who started at the retailer as an assistant in 1990. It's a career trajectory as inspiring as her killer style.
Bloggers Emily Schuman, Rumi Neely, Leandra Medine and Bryanboy
It's the new world order, in which bloggers take their place next to traditional editors as the ultimate arbiters of style—not to mention in fashion weeks' front rows. Among those making huge impact in the fashion and style spheres are Cupcakes and Cashmere's Emily Schuman, Fashiontoast's Rumi Neely, The Man Repeller's Leandra Medine and Bryanboy.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Have mercy! It feels like another lifetime ago that the now gorgeous twentysomethings Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen were just tots playing the sweet baby Michelle Tanner on Full House. Now they're full-blown style icons (with an over-the-top bohemian personal style preference some have compared uncharitably to a homeless look on their slight frames, it's true). They've created clothing lines that range from mass market to couture. Most recently, they launched a collaboration with Norwegian retailer Bik Bok.