Versace

Founded in Milan in 1978 by Gianni Versace, one of the Twentieth Century’s most talented designers, Gianni Versace SpA is today a standard bearer of Italian excellence throughout the world.

The company designs, manufactures, distributes and retails luxury products ranging from haute couture of Atelier Versace, to prêt-à-porter collections, from jewellery to perfumes, from home furnishings to porcelain services for the table. In addition to the above, a variety of other projects relating to lifestyle and design also bear the Versace signature: luxury resorts, private jets and helicopters, limited edition supercars.

The Versace Group distributes its products through a retail network of 110 free-standing boutiques located in the world’s major cities and 123 dedicated shop-in-shop spaces located in leading department stores and multibrand outlets.
From the very beginning, the creative universe of Gianni Versace has always encompassed many disciplines, not just fashion, but design in the broadest sense and the essential art of living were transformed by his great passion for all forms the arts: theatre, dance, painting and sculpture.

The Home Collection was therefore a natural extension of this interest, created in 1992 initially as a collection of textiles for the home (sheets, duvets, [pillows and] cushions), and soon followed by the first landmark ranges of porcelain dinner services and sets, the result of the collaboration with Rosenthal: Medusa, Meandre, Marco Polo, Barocco, Roi Soleil, Les Tresors de la Mer, Le Jardin de Versace.

These dinner services with their decorative themes are now accepted as design classics, just like the Vanitas arm chair; inspired by the sensuous design of a neoclassic chair and recognised as an indispensable masterpiece of the Versace Home Collection.
Since 1992 each succeeding collection has introduced new themes, always linked to certain established decorative emblems, such as the Medusa or the neo-classical Greek fret, which has now become the iconic symbol of the maison.

In September 2000, the Versace Group, in partnership with the Sunland Group, launched “Palazzo Versace”, the first resort concept bearing the signature of a luxury brand. The original Palazzo Versace is located on the Australian Gold Coast and this will be followed up in 2009 by a second branded complex under construction in Dubai.

In July 2006, Gianni Versace SpA, in partnership with the TAG Group, announced an agreement to create interiors for private jets. Also in 2006, the Group presented a limited edition of the Versace Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640, with its interior totally conceived and produced by “Versace Design”.

In March 2007 the Versace Group entered into an agreement with Agusta Westland to undertake the planning and creation of exclusive and prestigious interiors for private helicopters.

Viktor + Rolf

Viktor Horsting (1969) & Rolf Snoeren (1969) met while studying fashion at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in The Netherlands.
They began working together upon graduation, relocating to Paris in 1993 to launch their careers. Viktor + Rolf first collection 'Hyères' (1993) based on distortion, reconstruction and layering won three prizes at the Salon Europeen des Jeunes Stylistes at the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie.
The subsequent presentation of four collections in experimental art spaces led in 1998 to show Viktor + Rolf first Haute Couture collection (Spring/Summer 1998). Viktor & Rolf returned to ready-to-wear in 2000, with 'Stars and Stripes' (Autumn/Winter 2000-01). The menswear line 'Monsieur' was added in 2003 (Autumn/Winter), modelled entirely by Viktor & Rolf in a mirrored performance.
The Viktor & Rolf range has since grown to include shoes, accessories and eyewear. In addition to their own lines, Viktor & Rolf have collaborated with a number of other well known brands including Samsonite (2009) with whom they produced a luggage line, Shu Uemura (2008) for a range of couture false eyelashes, Piper Heidsieck (2007) for the iconic upside down bottle and, in 2006, the line for high street chain H&M which greatly extended their appeal to the general public. H&M.
With the desire to expand, in 2008 Viktor & Rolf entered into a partnership with Italian clothing magnate Renzo Rosso of Only the Brave (OTB), allowing the company to develop new product ranges, extend distribution and open further boutiques.

Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI (born 8 April 1941) is a British fashion designer largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.
Westwood was born as Vivienne Isabel Swire in the village of Tintwistle, Cheshire (now in the county of Derbyshire) on 8 April 1941.
She studied at the Harrow School of Art, later to attend the University of Westminster, for one term.
Vivienne went on to attend Middlesex University's Trent Park College and later taught at a primary school in North London.
The first major retrospective of her work was shown in 2004–5 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the National Gallery of Australia.
The exhibition, created from approximately 145 complete outfits grouped into the themes from the early 1970s to the present day, was drawn from her own personal archive and the V&A's extensive collection.
They range from early punk garments to glamorous "historical" evening gowns. Her Autumn/Winter 2005/06 Propaganda Collection drew inspiration from her archive, reinterpreting designs using Wolford’s exclusive knitting technology.
Westwood has worked in close collaboration with Wolford since 2003.
In 2006, she collaborated with Nine West, whose shoes are not designed directly by Westwood, however the Nine West brand name shares its label with Westwood.
Westwood's Gold Label and MAN hats are created by Prudence Millinery.
In December 2003, she and the Wedgwood pottery company launched a series of tea sets featuring her designs.
Vivienne Westwood website

Vivienne Tam

Vivienne Tam has become well known for creating beautiful clothes that appeal to all ages, ethnicities, and income levels. She has earned the reputation for offering a stylish and high-quality product while at the same time inviting the consumer to experience the inspiration behind it. A longstanding dedication to innovation and exotic imagery, Vivienne Tam is truly one of the world’s most passionate and symbolic designers in fashion today.

As a designer of clothing that “suggests tolerance, global acumen, and a Fourth of July faith in individual expression,“ Tam, in the words of fashion critic and curator Richard Martin, possesses an “idealistic globalism that transcends politics and offers a more enchanted, peaceful world.”

Born in Canton, China, Vivienne Tam moved to Hong Kong when she was three years old. Her bi-cultural upbringing in the then British colony was the first stage in the development of her signature East-meets-West style.

After graduating from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Vivienne Tam moved to New York where she thrived on the excitement and energy of the fashion world. New York became a home for her and a continuing source of stimulation for her designs.

In 1994, Vivienne Tam launched her signature collection of Eastern inspired clothing with a modern edge on the New York runways. In 1995, she introduced the influential “Mao” collection that triumphantly crossed over from the fashion world into the art world. Then in 1997 Vivienne Tam launched the venerable Buddha collection. The public and celebrities around the world quickly embraced both collections. Some of the images became so popular that scores of designers even adopted the look into their designs. Pieces of the collections were ultimately incorporated into the permanent archives of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Museum of FIT and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

In an era where the fashion industry is populated by numerous names and emerging new talents, Vivienne Tam has shown that she can consistently appeal to everyone from high-society to urban to teens, offering them fresh collections every season. She is poised to become the next multi-tasking, multi-successful designer and businesswoman.
Vivienne Tam website

Veronique Branquinho

A native of Belgium, Veronique Branquinho studied at the Flanders Fashion Institute in Antwerp. Known as the high priestess of monochrome romanticism, the pleasure of her designs come from the details. Starting as a womenswear designer, she has expanded her line to menswear which was debuted in Paris during the Fall 2003 Menswear season. Veronique Branquinho is based in Antwerp and shows in Paris.
Veronique Branquinho website

Vera Wang

In 1990, inspired by a new vision where fashion and bridal meet, Vera Wang opened a bridal salon at the esteemed Carlyle Hotel on New York City’s Madison Avenue.
Retailers, editors and peers quickly noted the impact of her innovative bridal collections and encouraged Vera Wang to extend her design sensibility to ready-to-wear and bridesmaids collections. Eighteen years later, Vera Wang is no longer an emerging brand. Vera Wang's new product introductions reflect her vision to create a lifestyle that goes beyond core bridal, maids and ready-to-wear and into publishing, fragrance, beauty, accessories and home.
Vera Wang collections are positioned at the highest end of the luxury market. Driven by artistic, modern and luxurious design and style, couture-like quality and a high level of customer service, Vera Wang’s collections hold impeccable customer appeal.
Vera Wang collaborates with leading global partners, directly employs more than 200 people and manufacturers the majority of its bridal collection in company-owned workrooms in the United States.
Vera Wang website