Nike

The Label

When legendary University of Oregon track and field coach Bill Bowerman shook hands with entrepreneur and college runner Phil Knight, the sleepy town of Eugene, Oregon, would inevitably become the home of Nike, Inc. Bowerman is credited with creating the first lightweight outsole shoe from some latex, leather, glue and his wife’s waffle iron. He and Knight each put up $500 and made and sold 330 pairs of the shoes. From those early successes, Nike was born.

From that first waffle outsole to performance apparel technologies such as Nike Dri-FIT and Nike Sphere React and the innovative design concept of Nike Free, Nike has continued to push boundaries of innovation and inspire athletes around the globe for more than 30 years.

Official Website

www.nike.com

Yves St. Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent

The Label

The Yves Saint Laurent and Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche brands seem to be recovering from an identity crisis that began in 1999, when the luxury label was first purchased by Gucci for $900 million and design direction taken over by super slick Tom Ford. Yves Saint Laurent, who retired in 2002, changed the way women dressed when he launched his label in 1962. He put them in mannish pant-suits with square shoulders, smoking jackets, safari jackets, and tuxedos, but softened the androgyny with billowy peasant blouses and fitted, flouncy couture gowns in dramatic colors. New designer Stefano Pilati is bringing it all back home, returning to those YSL classics and making them staples of the eveningwear and ready-to-wear collection.

The Look

Sexpot in a power suit. Trust-fund bohemian. Red-carpet diva.

The Designer

The current designer is Stefano Pilati, formerly Tom Ford’s chief deputy of the YSL Rive Gauche ready-to-wear collection, and a designer for Miu Miu and Giorgio Armani prior to that. While Saint Laurent kept hold of the couture reins until his retirement in 2002, Tom Ford most recently oversaw design for ready-to-wear. Ford replaced Alber Elbaz, who is now creative director of Lanvin.

Who Wears It

Everyone from long-standing fans like YSL muse Betty Catroux and Catherine Deneuve, to actresses like Renee Zellweger and Chloe Sevigny.

Official Website

yslonline.com

Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto

The Label

Yohji Yamamoto is the most playful of the highly respected Japanese design triumvirate that also includes Issey Miyake and Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo. Never conventionally sexy or trendy, Yamamoto appeals to clients who appreciate wit, romance, and the history of fashion; his clothes are full of allusions, and he’s as capable of dropping a reference to an Edwardian tea dress in a track suit. Although his palette is somber, he’s never funereal; there’s too much joie de vivre in the floppy, flowing, sensual fabrics to bring down the mood.

The Look

Sculptural, intriguing, often oversize. While black is far and away his predominant color, Yamamoto occasionally throw in zingers like the hot-pink-and-fuchsia coat dress tied with organza that opened his fall 2006 collection.

The Designer

Yamamoto was born in Tokyo in 1943 and studied law before attending the prestigious Bunkafukuso Gakuin design school. He presented his first womenswear collection in 1972 in Tokyo under the name Y’s, and he brought out a higher-priced signature label nine years later in Paris. He had several fragrances as part of his deal with Procter & Gamble. His partnership with Adidas, which started with the fall 2002 women’s collection, created the Y-3 label in 2003, one of the first and most successful of the designer-activewear marriages. In summer 2006, he signed a deal to design luggage and accessories for Italian luggage specialist Mandarina Duck, under the label Y’s Mandarina.

In addition to the admiration of his peers (Donna Karan wears Yamamoto), he’s has acquired numerous awards. He’s the only Japanese designer to receive France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. Not only does Yamamoto dress a large chunk of the international arts community, he’s also collaborated on film projects with Wim Wenders, Takeshi Kitano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and done costumes for the Pina Bausch Company and Wagner’s Opera “Tristan and Isolde” in Bayreuth.

Official Website

yohjiyamamoto.co.jp

Y-3

Yohji Yamamoto

The Label

Not a lot of athletic-apparel companies would let an avant-garde Japanese designer get in the way of their drive toward the bottom-line mainstream, but the collaboration between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas has proved itself critically and commercially and inspired similar matchups (Adidas also has a line with Stella McCartney, and Alexander McQueen has done pieces for Puma). From its first collection, spring 2003, Y-3 was meant to be a real business for both sides, not a vanity project. Adidas shows it on the runway every season (at first in Paris but more recently in New York). A voluminous skirt or a distressed gray-jacket might seem an odd thing to find on the sales floor at a store attached to a sports brand, but Y-3 is doing well enough that accessories have been added and freestanding stores are starting to appear around the world (although none in New York, as of fall 2006).

The Look

Yamamoto, ever a fan of convenience (his clothes always have generous pockets, a rarity in the not always practical fashion world) and new fabric technology, takes the basics of athleticwear, like tank tops, warm-up jackets, and sweatpants, and amplifies them with new proportions and colors.

The Designer

Yamamoto was born in Tokyo in 1943 and studied law before attending the prestigious Bunka Fukuso Gakuin design school. He presented his first womenswear collection in 1972 in Paris under the name Y’s, and he brought out a higher-priced signature label nine years later. He has several fragrances as part of his deal with Procter & Gamble, and his 2003 partnership with Adidas created the Y-3 label, one of the first and most successful of the designer-activewear marriages. In summer 2006, he signed a deal to design luggage and accessories for Italian luggage specialist Mandarina Duck, and his chief executive Keizo Tamoto wants to expand Yamamoto’s +Noir sportswear line and accessories.

In addition to the admiration of his peers (Donna Karan wears Yamamoto), he’s has acquired numerous awards. He’s the only Japanese designer to receive France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. Not only does Yamamoto dress a large chunk of the international arts community, he’s also collaborated on film projects with Wim Wenders, Takeshi Kitano, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, and done costumes for the Pina Bausch Company and the Wagner Opera.

Official Website

adidas.com/y-3

Vera Wang

The Label

Vera Wang opened her salon at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City in 1990 to showcase her bridal collection. The idea emerged from Wang's frustration in bridal fashion when she'd planned for her own wedding the year before. Feeling the industry was steeped in too much tradition and not enough sophistication, Wang saw an opportunity. Today, Wang's vision has expanded to footwear, fragrance, eyewear, and home furnishings.

The Look

The Vera Wang name is synonymous with elegant, understated gowns constructed from the finest fabrics.

The Designer

A veteran of Vogue, where she was senior fashion editor for 16 years, Wang was lucky to have the ear of the world's top fashion designers when she opened her salon. Wang also served as a design director for Ralph Lauren.

Official Website

verawang.com