Fashion Power 100 revealed: the hottest industry style players ranked
The fashion industry is worth around £1.2 trillion and is estimated to employ around 430 million people globally. But what does power in fashion mean now? Fashion is a followers’ game but the real influence happens on the high street and in your wardrobe. The (mostly male) billionaires might be holding the purse strings, but we’re wearing the merch. We’ve looked at the industry and its tributaries from every which way — is a footballer more powerful than an industry favourite designer if everyone’s copying their style? Are the traditional titans of publishing holding their own over the stars of social media? And what of the Kardashian Klan?
The Standard Fashion Power 100 list is, in reality, a work in progress. Over the next 12 months these names will fall in and out of favour; one viral campaign image can propel a person to the top of everyone’s feed and one spurious post can get them momentarily cancelled. But for 2023, looking at revenue, followers, old-fashioned clout — and, most crucially, total cut through — we’ve compiled the 100 names which we think are directing the most critical element of all — what we’re all actually wearing.
1. Marta Ortega Pérez
Non-executive chair of Inditex
Since being appointed chair of Inditex in 2021, Ortega has been carefully positioning Zara at the heart of the fashion world and elevating the optics of the high street megalith. She attends shows at Paris Fashion Week, launched a collection with photographer Steven Meisel at Dover Street Market and recently hosted the great and good at her foundation in A Coruña, Spain (the Northern Spanish city which is home to Inditex’s vast HQ) for the opening of its Helmut Lang exhibition. In September, the world’s biggest fast-fashion company announced a 40 per cent jump in half-year net profits. It’s this combination of industry clout and customer loyalty that makes her this year’s No 1.
2. The Arnault Family
Owners LVMH
Fashion’s favourite succession story comes via the billionaire Arnault family. Led by Bernard Arnault, the 74-year-old presides over the vast LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetic brands which includes Christian Dior, Fendi, Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tiffany & Co. Arnault’s five children lead his star houses, and have equal stakes in the holding company. Arnault, worth about $187.4 billion, is the third richest man in the world. Louis Vuitton stands as the second most valuable fashion brand globally.
3. Kim Kardashian
Entrepreneur
Whatever your thoughts on the Kardashian Klan, their impact on the fashion world can’t be avoided. Kim has recently sent a nipple bra viral and her 364 million Instagram followers are in thrall to her every hair flick, and product drop. SKIMS, her brand which has turned flesh-coloured control pants into something cool, is valued at around £3 billion and has upped the former Mrs Kardashian West’s personal worth to $4 billion.
4. Edward Enninful OBE
Editor
The might be exiting stage right from the helm of British Vogue, but this isn’t holding him back. The final “editor-in-chief” of the title has left an indelible mark on the industry and the wider cultural scene from his six-year tenure, forcing an agenda of change and inclusivity. His provocative Vogue covers have created global talking points, from Meghan guest editing to Rihanna and her baby son, not forgetting Miriam Margoyles shielding her modesty with iced buns. Enninful has just signed to the WME talent agency, which will also handle TV and film rights to his best-selling memoir, A
