HALSTON (Designer)

Halston is surrounded by eleven models for a 1972 Vogue sitting. Their fluid, silk jersey dresses and svelte clothes made from Ultrasuede are pure Halston: utterly simple and an eternal antidote to fussy dressing. These are the hallmarks of classic American design, and Halston was recognized as a master of the art. His popularity in the 1970s made him a social figure, most famously among the set that frequented Manhattan's Studio 54 club. Bianca Jagger and Liza Minnelli were friends and clients, and both were Concorde-class models for his draped jersey dresses and lean trouser suits. Halston designed for his friends, saying in 1971, "Fashion starts with fashionable people... No designer has ever made fashion alone. People make fashion". Although he died in 1990, Halston's influence has continued to grow. Tom Ford, designer at Gucci, acknowledged his Studio 54 look as crucial to uncluttered fashion in the 1990s. 

Also look up for Bandy, Daché, Ford, Maxwell, Peretti, Warhol

GUSTAFSON Mats (Illustrator)

It's difficult to overstate the elegance and artistry of this beautiful Yohji Yamamoto watercolour. The silhouetted figure displays a relaxed posture and easy gait as it strides ahead, echoing the charasteristic serenity of the watercolour's muted tones. Illustration had long been eclipsed by photography for showcasing designer collections by the time the illustrator Mats Gustafson began his career in the late 1970s. Nearly single-handedly reinvigorating the medium, his exquisite aquarelle sketches and cut-out works on paper recast illustration as a conceptual tool, extending its relevance and broadening its expressive possibilities. Early editorial illustration assignments led him to hone his focus on fashion leading to an impressive roster of editorial clients such as Vogue and Visionaire. His work in advertising has also resulted in stunning collaborations with eminent brands such as Hermès, Tiffany, Dior and Comme des Garçons. 

Also look up for Antonio, Berthoud, Gruau, Roberts, Y. Yamamoto

GUINNESS Daphne (Icon)

Daphne Guinness, heiress, artist, muse and fashion's rare bird, is captured here by theatrical photographers Markus and Indrani. The elaborately styled Guinness is a stunning and unmistakable sight. Guinness has worked with many designers and photographers during her career _ including Tom Ford, Karl Lagerfeld, Philip Treacy, David LaChapelle and her close friend, the late Alexander McQueen _ but she is also a creative force in her own right. In particular many of Guinness's designs are inspired by her fascination with armour and fashion's protective qualities. In 2012, Christie's in London held an auction of The Daphne Guinness founded in memory of her friend. Guinness is an exceptional icon; the very image of personal, individual style, she was celebrated in 2011 in an exhibition devoted to her at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. 

Also look up for Blow, Ford, LaChapelle, Lady Gaga, McQueen, Treacy

GUCCI Guccio (Accessory designer)

On a terrace in Cannes, Romy Schneider caresses the classic Gucci loafers worn by Alain Delon. The snaffle loafer has been an icon of wealth and European style since it was designed in 1932 by Guccio Gucci. After rebelling against joining his family's ailing business, Gucci ran away to London. He found a job as maître d'hôtel at the Savoy where he looked after the wealthy guests, paying particular attention to their baggage. He returned to Florence and opened a small shop selling saddlery, later expanding into leather bags and shoes that were decorated with a horse's snaffle. In 1933 Aldo, his son, joined the business and designed the iconic Gucci logo using the interlocking double Gs of his father's initials. Intermittent periods of great success were counterpointed with family squabbles and even murder, marring the Gucci story. The business enjoined a renaissance under Tom Ford, who was its creative director from 1994 to 2004. 

Also look up for Fendi, Ferragamo, Ford, Hermès

GRUAU René (Illustrator)

In this suggestive advertisement for Christian Dior, the sinuous lines of a woman's hand are placed on a panther's paw, reflecting a spirit of graceful wordliness and glamour. Noted for his strong silhouettes and tonalities of colour. Gruau's images became prestigious icons of elegance. He was an outstanding graphic artist of the period after the Second World War, when his swift, expressive line was chosen by Dior's couture and perfume company to illustrate their perfume advertisements. Together with Bouché, Gruau also brilliantly illustrated haute couture of the era in French Vogue. Influenced by the posters of Toulouse-Lautrec, he used strong outlines _ a technique that perfectly accentuates fashion's shape and form. He was one of the last grand magazine illustrators before the creative possibilities of fashion photography made it equal to the fantasy of illustration. 

Also look up for Berthoud, Biagiotti, Bouché, Dior, Gustafson

GRIFFE Jacques (Designer)

In a picture from an American Vogue sitting in 1952, the model's seated pose makes a display of Jacques Griffe's diaphanous pin-tucks. The entire evening dress grows from a flamboyant pink tulle bow which uses the fabric of both bodice and skirt. It finishes ten inches from the floor _ a younger look for ball gowns at the time and known as the ballet length. Griffe trained with Vionnet where he learned the techniques of draping and cutting fabrics, such as this luscious chiffon, from the Lyons textile firm Bianchini-Férier, noted for its fluid materials in brilliant colours. After the Second World War, Griffe worked for Molyneux before opening his own maison de couture in 1946. Like Vionnet, he worked directly with the material, modelling it on a wooden dummy. Griffe's tailoring work was distinguished by the use of seams and darts as decorative details and by his invention of the boxy jacket. 

Also look up for McLaughlin-Gill, Molyneux, Vionnet

GRÈS Madame (Designer)

The white, silk jersey fabric of this evening gown has been moulded onto the figure as if it had the properties of the piece of sculpture standing next to the model. Even the play of light and shade in its deep pleats echoes the sculpture. Silk jersey is a material that lends itself to pleating in precise, fluid folds and it was a mainstay in the classicism of Madame Alix Grès, one of the great couture artists. Harper's Bazaar proclaimed in 1936 that, "Alix stands for the body rampant, for the rounded, feminine sculptural from beneath the dress". She had been trained as sculptress and it was her feeling for Classical Greek sculpture that enabled her to capture its timeless elegance in her evening gowns. Hers was an individualistic, uncompromising style where the sculptural cut of her gowns had the liquid effect of the "wet" drapery of Classical Greek sculpture that turned fashionable women into living statues. 

Also look up for Audibet, Cassini, Lanvin, Pertegaz, Toledo, Valentina

GRAND Katie (Stylist)

Fashion in the new millennium has seen the birth of the "superstar stylist", a title for which Katie Grand is undoubtedly the poster girl. A student of Central Saint Martins in London, Grand honed her skills in the 1990s at Dazed & Confused, later becoming fashion director of style bible The Face in 1999, and launching her own magazine POP in 2000. Now Grand is in high demand for her freelance styling for fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Proenza Schouler and her friend Giles Deacon, alongside editorials for W, Vogue and Interview where she is contributing style director in addition to her own magazine, LOVE. Her emphasis is on strong image-led content and lyrical _ sometimes controversial _ covers, often featuring famous faces. Here Kate Moss, shot by Mert & Marcus, appears to defy gravity perched in the bathtub, semi-submerged in glistening, foaming water. 

Also look up for Deacon, Enninful, Formichetti, McGrath, Mert & Marcus, Moss

GODLEY Georgina (Designer)

An otherwise utterly plain, jersey T-shirt dress springs away from the average with the introduction of organza into the hem and neck. An experimental purist, Georgina Godley uses sculpture to introduce avant-garde shape into her work. "We are dealing with a woman who is an individual now", she told Vogue. "Fashion is so retrograde, putting people down. It's not a designer's personality you're buying, it's yours. I believe in a reappraisal of sexual roles". Her contemporary work is in contrast to the historicism explored during her partnership with Scott Crolla. Their cult shop, Crolla (opened in 1981), stocked romantic men's clothes in velvet and brocade, which matched the New Romantic mood. After parting from him in 1985, Godley developed her own line, favouring a one-to-one relationship with the client, in which her creativity could be displayed by women who relish her individual experiments. 

Also look up for Audibet, Bruce, Crolla

GOALEN Barbara (Model)

The archetypal 1950s aloof and haughty mannequin, the well-bred Goalen was chauffeur-driven to the assignments in a Rolls-Royce. Careful to protect her image, she said, "I always did high fashion and I never touched anything that wasn't high quality". The photographer Henry Clarke said, "You put the dress on Barbara and she made it sing". At one time she was almost exclusively photographed by John French and was Coffin's favourite model. She was the first British model to be sent to the Paris shows by British Vogue. At the height of her fame, she toured Australia and was mobbed in the North of England. Like many models in the 1950s, she married well _ to Lloyd's underwriter Nigel Campbell. Her hips were too slender for sample sizes, so she rarely did catwalk modelling. She only worked for five years, before retiring while still very much in demand. 

Also look up for Bettina, Clarke, Coffin, French

DE GIVENCHY Hubert (Designer)

Snap! Audrey Hepburn, playing a model, is captured in a still from the film Funny Face (1957). Her dress, a black cotton gown, is by the man who became a lifelong friend and collaborator. "It was as though I was born to wear his clothes", said Hepburn of Hubert of Givenchy. When she was first sent to his house, Givenchy was expecting the other "Miss Hepburn" _ Katharine. His disappointment gave way to adoration. He had already worked at Lelong, Piguet, Fath and Schiaparelli, before opening his couture house at the age of twenty-five. Encouraged by Balenciaga, he specialized in clothes for the new era of air travel and grand eveningwear. In 1956 Givenchy banned the press from his shows, saying, "A fashion house is a laboratory which must conserve its mystery". He retired in 1995, making way for two of the most publicity-aware designers _ John Galliano and Alexander McQueen _ to design under his name. 

Also look up for Horvat, Lelong, Pipart, Tiffany, Venet

GILBEY Tom (Designer)

This is classic Tom Gilbey. With his trademark simplicity and an almost militaristic neatness, Gilbey was an important force in menswear in the 1960s. Here, he uses traditionally masculine details. This outfit is strong, an angular example of the new wave of British tailoring. Gilbey began designing for John Michael and in 1968 opened his own shop, in London's Sackville Street. Gilbey is one of fashion's visionaries. In 1982 he launched a waistcoat collection that suited the aspirational yuppie. Around the same time, and pre-dating the transatlantic sportswear boom by fifteen years, he said, "I'm influenced by the American campus look, it's so classic and immaculate. Jeans and T-shirt, big bumper shoes, Bermuda shorts... I hate fuss. I love things to be clean, strong and aggressive". 

Also look up for Brioni, Fish, Fonticoli, Nutter, Stephen  

GIGLI Romeo (Designer)

Benedetta Barzini is photographed enjoying Romeo Gigli's extravagant coat. Gold flowers and embroidered leaves collect around the shawl collar, cuffs and hem. Gigli's childhood was saturated in art history. It gave him an appreciation of beauty, and history and travel underly his work _ playing with elements from historical costume and non-European dress. The Gigli look was, and still is, one of the most distinctive in fashion. In the 1980s, Gigli's vision had a grandeur only equalled by that of Christian Lacroix. Silk suits, with either stovepipe trousers or long, narrow skirts, were worn with shirt collars that framed the wearer's face (as here) and placed under velvet coats that enveloped the figure in luxury. The impression was similar to that created by Poiret: a decorated bloom growing from a narrow stalk. A large collection of Gigli's most representative clothes and accessories are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 

Also look up for Gattinoni, Iribe, Meisel, Poiret, Roversi, Vallhonrat

  

GIBSON Charles Dana (Illustrator)

Before television and movies, Gibson identified an essential character as deftly and as unforgettably as any novelist. His "Gibson Girl" was the personification of America's modern woman. Probably seen wearing the fashionable shirtwaist (a masculine-styled blouse of the early twentieth century), her S-curve figure and loosely constructed mound of hair gave shape to the new woman. Her face varied slightly, but she was the icon of twentieth-century fashion embodied in an active in such Gibson books on the middle and upper-middle classes as The Education of Mr Pipp (1899), The Americans (1900) and The Social Ladder (1902). Gibson had studied at the Art Students' League in New York and worked for late nineteenth-century magazines that required illustrations for news and stories, but ultimately he invented his own story of the fashionable, independent woman of the twentieth century.

Also look up for Von Drecoll, Paquin, Redfern

GIBB Bill (Designer)

"Miles of untouched band-printed onto silk... the Bill Gibb environment, rich fabrics with richer decorations _ marbled, hand-painted, feathered, piped... flower-faced beauty". As it is, the words that accompanied this editorial picture left out a few of the techniques used on Gibb's lavish, layered and fantastical dress. He claimed to have an aversion to "the tailored thing" and his grand vision was an alternative to the lean trouser suits of the 1970s. Gibb came from a farming family, but was encouraged by his grandmother, a painter, to enjoy his hobby of copying pictures of historical costume, especially that of the Renaissance era. This influence has affected his most spectacular work. He often incorporated knitwear into his collection by collaborating with Missoni and knitting specialist Kaffe Fassett, saying, "What women want to wear in the daytime is beautiful knits". 

Also look up for Birtwell, Mesejeán & Cancela, Missoni, Porter

GHESQUIÈRE Nicolas (Designer)

After serving an internship with Agnès B and assisting Jean Paul Gaultier, Nicolas Ghesquière was plucked from relative obscurity to become the creative director at Balenciaga in 1997. He reinvigorated the brand with electrifying, cutting-edge collections, mixing minimalism with technology to design clothes "for a woman who is looking to the future". His spring/summer 2007 collection for Balenciaga was just that. Ghesquière produced a vision of fashion's future. The model is a sharp, slick and cool as the black-and-white printed silk dress and black leather waistcoat she wears, cut around the body with a laser precision. Her jointed leggings in gleaming gold metal are astonishingly delicate pieces of armour, while her scraped-back hair and gargantuan goggles complete the silhouette of a futuristic fashion android. Ghesquière's fifteen-year tenure at Balenciaga ended in 2012. 

Also look up for Balenciaga, Gaultier, Kane, Simons, Tisci

GERNREICH Rudi (Designer)

The topless bathing suit, worn here by Peggy Moffitt, Rudi Gernreich's favourite model, was developed to meet the trend for topless bathing. It was also intended to be something of a feminist statement, as was his no-bra bra of 1964, which was the first to allow the natural shape of a woman's breasts. Gernreich also invented the high-cut, buttock-baring, thong bathing suit. His radical body-based clothes of the 1960s and 1970s reflected the social revolution of women's liberation and his early designs provided unprecedented freedom of movement. In the 1950s he produced knitted swimwear without the usual boning and underpinning and he developed the concept into tube dresses. It was Gernreich's early influences that helped to develop our relationship between stretch and comfort; Rudi joined several modern dance companies and became fascinated by the leotards and tights of the dancers. 

Also look up for Coffin, Heim, Rabanne, Sassoon

GAULTIER Jean Paul (Designer)

The Breton stripe, modelled here by Hannelore Knuts, is given iconic status by l'enfant terrible fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. Since establishing his label in 1978, he has taken inspiration from a  variety of influences, from the traditional ethnic textiles and techniques of historic costume, to the dishevelled garb of London's punks. Playing with sexual iconography _ from the ambiguity of men in skirts, to the overtly erotic costumes of Madonna's "Blonde Ambition" tour _ has become his trademark. His menswear uses camp clichés of macho bodybuilders and butch sailors, simultaneously celebrating and challenging archetypal gender roles. His skillful ability to adapt pop culture has given success on and off the runway, designing costumes for films such as The Fifth Element (1997). As with most of his work, his style is a humorous, energetic and eclectic challenge to the French establishment. 

Also look up for Alexandre, Van Beirendonck, Galliano, Madonna, Margiela, Pita

GATTINONI Fernanda (Designer)

The serene allure of Gattinoni's brilliant green, brocade evening coat is captured by Clifford Coffin in a photograph for American Vogue in 1947. Hinting at Imperial Chinese influences, its Zen-like dignity anticipates the refined ethnicity of Romeo Gigli. Gattinoni trained at the Rome fashion house Ventura, before opening her own atelier. Here she attracted the likes of Audrey Hepburn. Ingrid Bergman and Anna Magnani _ film-star clients renowned for their highly photogenic mix of thoroughbred grace and soft femininity. In the 1950s, with the great success of films such as Roman Holiday (1953), Rome became synonymous with the glamour of cinema and Gattinoni came to epitomize cultured European sophistication and romance. She also offered indulgent escapism _ twenty-five full-time embroiderers were employed to decorate wedding dresses _ for a clientele weary of postwar realities. 

Also look up for Coffin, Gigli, Molyneux 

GARREN (Hairdresser)

From the strawberry-red, Sophia Loren bouffant to the boyish, platinum, Andy Warhol bob, Garren has been the architect behind all of supermodel Linda Evangelista's publized, chameleon-like hairstyle changes. His directional approach has been witnessed not only in the high-glam look he achieved in collaboration with photographer Steven Meisel in the late 1980s, but also in the spiky "chicken do" (his trademark punk-inspired style seen earlier that decade), which he modified in the softer, more feminine gamine cut seen in the wake of the waif look. His extreme work in editorial and on the catwalk for Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui id tempered in the salon where he gives reality a chance. As he told American Vogue, "As soon as a client comes in... I'm checking out the way she moves, her shoes, her handbag and body language. That tells me what her needs are".

Also look up for Evangelista, Jacobs, Meisel, Recine, Warhol

GARBO Greta (Icon)

Called the "greatest star of all", Greta Garbo wears a masculine jacket, cut with sexual ambiguity, in a portrait by Cecil Beaton. Beaton wrote of his subject, "Perhaps no other person has had such an influence on the appearance of a whole generation... the secret of appeal seems to lie in an elusive and haunting sensitivity... Garbo has created a style in fashion which is concerned with her individual self". Garbo arrived in Hollywood aged nineteen in the entourage of Mauritz Stiller from Sweden. Signed up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, she went on to star in Queen Christina (1933), Camille (1936) and Anna Karenina (1935), dressed by Adrian. Famed as a recluse, she said in 1932, "I am awkward, shy, afraid, nervous and self-conscious about my English. That is why I built a wall of repression about myself and lived behind it". The director George Cukor said that she reserved "her real sensuousness for the camera". 

Also look up for Adrian, Beaton, Galitzine, Sui  

GALLIANO John (Designer)

This show-stopping creation is a fitting example of designer John Galliano's flamboyance and cheeky wit. A prodigious talent, Galliano caught the fashion world's attention with "Les Incroyables", his graduation collection from Saint Martins School of Art in 1984. Launching his own label in the same year, he quickly made a name for himself as a master of intricate couture techniques and expert bias cuts. In 1995 he was appointed creative director of Givenchy, the first British designer to head a French couture house. A year later he moved to Dior, where his romantic sensibility produced spectacular collections, referencing Madame Butterfly, Napoleon and Josephine and A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2011 he was dismissed from Dior, a victim of what journalist Suzy Menkes described as the "perfect storm" of increasing commercial pressure and the ruthless commodification of talent that bedevils in the fashion industry. 

Also look up for Dior, Gaultier, Givenchy, LaChapelle, Poiret

GALITZINE Irene (Designer)

These outfits are variations of Irene Galitzine's wide-leg trouser suits which were dubbed "palazzo pyjamas" by Diana Vreeland, then at Harper's Bazaar. Galitzine's aristocratic Russian family fled the Revolution in 1918. She studied art in Rome, English at Cambridge and French at the Sorbonne. Galitzine finished her broad education as an assistant to the Fontana sisters in Rome. Her own collection, first designed in 1959, suggested an international, yet easy way of dressing. It blurred the distinction between day _ and eveningwear and made a relaxed alternative to formal cocktail dresses. It was a look that immediately appealed to the Italian aristocracy. Her draped sari-style tunics could be worn for day or evening, and were favoured by Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Sophia Loren. 

Also look up for Fontana, Garbo, W. Klein, Pulitzer, Vreeland 

GALANOS James (Designer)

With this perfectly striped, wool dress, Galanos displays the reason why he was dubbed "America's couturier". "I never deviated from what was most important, which was quality", said Galanos, who actually produced the highest class of ready-to-wear. Nancy Reagan claimed, "You can take one of Jimmy's dresses and just wear it inside out, they are so beautifully made". The simplicity of his designs was deceptive and he used couture-standard dressmaking techniques, which made his pieces expensive. Galanos worked in Hollywood with John Louis, head of costume design at Columbia, who soon found his fledgling designer's clothes were as popular with the stars as his own. Having later trained with Robert Piguet in Paris, Galanos opened a small shop in Los Angeles in 1951. His designs were discovered by a senior buyer at Neiman Marcus, who claimed she had found "a young designer from California who would set the world on fire". 

Also look up for Adolfo, Louis, Piguet, Simpson 

VON FÜRSTENBERG Diane (Designer)

Diane von Fürstenberg wears her own fashion phenomenon for the cover of Newsweek. The real appeal of her wrap dress was its wearable shape and endless versatility. Smart yet sexy, it looked as good at the disco as it did at the office. The designer called it, "Simple one-step dressing. Chic, comfortable and sexy. It won't become dated after one season. It works around the clock, travels across the world and fits all a woman's priorities". An ex-model, von Fürstenberg partied at Studio 54 and was briefly married to Fiat her Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. The glamorous divorcée's jet-set lifestyle contributed to the cachet of her dresses. Originally launched in 1972, the DVF wrap dresses contrasted with the unisex trouser suits of the time and the swing tickets attached made this point with the words, "Feel like a woman. Wear a dress". Her clothes have been worn by many celebrities, including Michelle Obama and the Duchess of Cambridge. 

Also look up for Bergère, Karan, De Ribes, Scavullo, Vanderbilt

FRIZON Maud (Shoe designer)

Maud Frizon is known for her shoes with cone-shaped heels, a black suede pair of which are the only garments worn in this picture. The role of the man id to communicate the sexual intention of Frizon's work. "A shoe has to make you look beautiful. You can be wearing a simple dress, but if you have something exquisite on your feet, it becomes a perfect look", said Frizon, who gained this understanding as a model for Courrèges, Nina Ricci, Jean Patou and Christian Dior. She decided to design shoes when she was unable to find styles to go with the designers' clothes on her modelling assignments (in the 1960s models were expected to provide their own shoes). In 1970 she created her first collection of witty, sexy shoes, all hand-cut and finished. There were queues outside her tiny shop on Paris's rue Saint Germain. Brigitte Bardot was a fan, particularly of Frizon's innovative, zipless, high-heeled Russian boots and simple girlie pumps. 

Also look up for Bardot, Courrèges, Jourdan, Kélian, Patou, Ricci

FRISSELL Toni (Photographer)

Toni Frissell's photographs of the 1930s through to the 1950s captured the idyllic sense of the rich at play. Here, a model swims in her gown to illustrate its flowing material. With the innate nonchalance of an aristocrat, Frissell documented her world of wealthy playgrounds. Some of her vivid fashion images were of the beach, featuring playful swimwear and recreation dresses, and crisp tennis outfits. Frissell loved the outdoor setting and sunlight's play at least as much as the clothes or model, and let that casual naturalism permeate photographs for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Frissell's images appear effortless, whether of dogs, children, fox-hunting, war or fashion. She mingled the snapshot's vitality and compassion with traditional composition. Frissell recorded a charmed life in every way, including radiant photographs of the 1953 wedding of John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier. 

Also look up for Horst, Kennedy, McLaughlin-Gill, Vallhonrat

FRENCH John (Photographer)

A formal coat is given a surreal treatment by John French. Originally a graphic designer, he believed, "You have to compose a picture in the view-finder exactly as if it were an artist's picture on the canvas". His black-and-white portraits were always perfectly arranged. "Fill in the space. The space round the subject is as important as the subject itself", he would say. French's apparently impromptu style contrasted with the posed formality of fashion photography in the early 1950s. One of Britain's first model talent-spotters, he encouraged Barbara Goalen and others to develop their own personalities in front of the lens. The hand intruding at the bottom of the picture doesn't belong to French. He never actually released the camera shutter himself; instead he would direct set, lighting and model, then tell his assistant (at times David Bailey or Terence Donovan) to take the photograph. 

Also look up for David Bailey, Bruyère, Goalen, Morton

FRATINI Gina (Designer)

The range of Byronic details used on this dress distinguishes it as the work of Gina Fratini. Unafraid of romantic themes, she trimmed cuffs with rosebuds and edged frills with lace on her chiffon, lawn and silk gauze dresses. Historical references, such as off-the-shoulder "Winterhalter" necklines and pin-tucked bodices usually seen on Victorian nightgowns, added to that charm. For this reason her wedding dresses were particularly popular. Fratini's romanticism came to the fore in 1971 when Norman Parkinson delivered samples of her work to Princess Anne in preparation for her twenty-first-birthday portrait. She chose a classic Frantini gown with a lace-trimmed ruff that co-ordinated with her pretty, tawny pink make-up. After her own business closed, Fratini designed lingerie with Ossie Clark as well as collections for Norman Hartnell and for private clients, including the Princess of Wales. 

Also look up for Ashley, Clark, Diana, Emanuel, Hartnell, Parkinson

FORTUNY Mariano (Designer)

The Delphos was constructed from four to five widths of silk that were sewn into a tubular shape and secured at the shoulder, as Lillian Gish demonstrates. The cord around her neckline added finish to the gown and also served to adjust the fit. Fortuny started to design his Delphos around 1907 when a nostalgia for Classical Greece was beginning to be felt in fashion, art and theatre. However, what made Fortuny's Delphos unique was its pleating, a secret process he patented in 1909. Named after the Ancient Greek sanctuary of Delphi, Fortuny's garment derived from the chiton, a tunic worn by Classical Greek charioteers that focused on the natural shape of the body. Since the Delphos emphasized the female form in movement, it was popular among actresses and dancers such as Isadora Duncan. Trained as an artist, Fortuny advocated a timeless form of dress and continued to create the Delphos right up to his death. 

Also look up for Chow, Lester, McFadden, Miyake, Poiret

FORMICHETTI Nicola (Designer / Stylist)

Digital media-obsessed Nicola Formichetti discovered Rick Genest _ starring here in Mugler's autumn/winter 2011 campaign _ via his Facebook page, and exposed the tattoo devotee to the international limelight. Formichetti had just been appointed creative director of Thierry Mugler and was charged with resuscitating the brand. The designer enlisted Genest _ aka Zombie Boy _ to personify its bold resurrection. Raised in both Tokyo and Rome, Formichetti first delved into fashion working at London shop The Pineal Eye. He is now a global fashion phenomenon, from styling friend and collaborator Lady Gaga, to his role as fashion director for Japanese mass-market retailer Uniqlo. Formerly editor-in-chief of Vogue Hommes Japan, Formichetti regularly contributes to V, VMAN and Dazed & Confused magazines. His experimental and playful vision has won him the status of guru to some of today's most influential fashion players. 

Also look up for Blow, Lady Gaga, Mugler, Toskan & Angelo

FORD Tom (Designer)

Pinstripes for a man and woman, body-conscious shirts and a shining G: all elements that contributed to Tom Ford's unmistakable image for Gucci. As creative director he took styling from the 1970s and created a culture of seasonal icons: handbags and shoes that shine brightly for six months but become redundant through their high-fashion visibility. Ford's success is rooted in his American blend of sexy, market-aware commercialism married with Italian craftsmanship. As John Fairchild, owner of the fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily, wrote in 1989, the year before Ford joined Gucci, "If American designers were working in Europe with the... eagerness to be different for novelty's sake... they could be better style leader than anyone". In 2004 Ford left Gucci to launch his own label with his colleague Domenico de Sole. The designer has also branched out a fashion, enjoying praise as a film director with his debut film A Single Man (2009).

Also look up for Gucci, Halston, Lagerfeld, Pilati, Saint Laurent, Testino

FORBES Simon (Hairdresser)

This stark, androgynous image of hair fashion is the work of Simon Forbes, owner of Antenna, the salon famous for developing hair extensions. The picture represents hair as sculpture and created a cutting-edge, "anti-beauty" statement that followed from the punk and new wave proclivity for making hair an intrinsic part of the costume. Forbes invented the Monofibre Extensions technique, which allowed greater creativity for stylists to do this. Synthetic was grafted onto real hair to give it instant and dramatic length. It was often dyed with vivid colours and wrapped with rags. With this and his electric clippering and precision razoring. Forbes became the directional hairdresser of the early 1980s and his salon became a fashion venue. Extensions, which were inspired by the urban street style of Rastafarians, were sported by musicians such as Boy George and Annie Lennox. 

Also look up for Boy George, Ettedgui, Recine, Stewart

FONTICOLI Nazareno & SAVINI Gaetano (Brioni) (Tailors)

This 1971 high-waisted, double-breasted dinner suit, together with a car coat, describes the progressive tailoring of Rome's extrovert menswear house, Brioni. From the 1954 futuristic space-age suit to the Maharajah styles, which were popular in mid-1960s London, and the elegant tailoring devised for Pierce Brosnan's role as James Bond, Brioni left no avenue unexplored in men's couture. Its colourful silks and metallic threads, rarely seen since the eighteenth century, heralded the "male peacock revolution" in the late 1950s. Even through the use of tunics, bolero jackets, lace and macramé clearly contrasts with the Anglo-Saxon tradition, a Brioni blazer epitomized elegance and flaunted wealth in preppie, early 1980s California. Having seen responsible for the first ever men's catwalk show in 1952, Brioni inaugurated prêt-couture six years later, resolving flow production methods within a made-to-measure system. 

Also look up for Bikkembergs, Brooks, Gilbey, Nutter, G. Versace

FONTANA Zoe, Micol & Giovanna (Sorelle Fontana) (Designers)

A monkishly simple, white satin dress, with half-sleeves, boat neck and gently belled skirt, is decorated with embroidery formed from cord. It plays on the cotton dresses worn by gamines such as Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot but the Fontana sisters were always associated with the aristocracy and society figures such as Jackie Kennedy, for whom they provided evening gowns and tailored suits. Roman couture aso appealed to movie stars. Their most famous client was the film actress Ava Gardner, whom they dressed for The Barefoot Contessa (1954). One of their most memorable outfits was the impish Cardinal outfit, which featured a black hat and black dress with a white collar set off by a jewelled cross. The fashion house of the Fontana family was founded in Parma, Italy, in 1907. The three Fontana sisters, Zoe, Micol and Giovanna, moved to Rome in the 1930s. There they established their own house in 1943. 

Also look up for Galitzine, W. Klein, Schuberth, Watanabe

FONSSAGRIVES Lisa (Model)

Photographed by her husband Irving Penn, Lisa Fonssagrives wears a "harlequin" opera outfit from 1950. Once described as "the highest paid, highest praised, high-fashion model in the business", Fonssagrives used to call herself simply "the clothes hanger". In the 1930s she moved to Paris from Sweden to train for the ballet. Here she met and married another dancer, Fernand Fonssagrives, who took some pictures of her to Vogue. She was immediately sent to see Horst; his assistant, Scavullo, later recalled, "She had a marvellous profile and moved like a dream". Fonssagrives was famous for her grace and poise, learnt from her ballet background. She called modelling "still-dancing" and referred to her poses as "arrested dance movements". She became one of the most sought-after models in Paris in the 1930s and 1940s and in New York in the 1950s. 

Also look up for Bettina, Horst, Penn, Scavullo

FOALE Marion & TUFFIN Sally (Foale & Tuffin) (Designers)

Wearing a miniskirt, the uniform of the time, Twiggy swings her fringed sleeves for Cecil Beaton in 1967. "We made Swinging Sixties clothes", says Marion Foale of the fashion company she set up in 1961 with Sally Tuffin. The pair were taught at the Royal College of Art by Janey Ironside, who was an influential force in British fashion. After graduating in 1961 and deciding that they didn't want to make "elderly clothes", the two designers set to work in their bedsits on a range of bright, fun dresses, skirts and tops. They were picked up by a London store that had established a "young" department, and David Bailey photographed Foale and Tuffin's clothes for Vogue just as London's "youthquake" movement took hold. They opened a shop on Carnaby Street and became allied to a group of British designers, including Mary Quant, dedicated to producing affordable fashion for teenage and twenty-something customers. 

Also look up for D. Bailey, Charles, Betsey Johnson, Quant, Twiggy

FLETT John (Designer)

John Flett's clothes were known for their complexity of cut: circular seams, abundant drapes and cavalier shapes that made theatrical figures of those who wore them. Widely respected and admired for his work, Flett was a central figure in the 1980s club scene in London, where he partied with other designers of the time including his former boyfriend John Galliano. They both created theatrical fashion that challenged the status quo but matured into distinctive, directional styles. Flett started his own label in 1988 but closed it down a year later to go freelance. He moved to Europe to work with Claude Montana at Lanvin in Paris and then at Enrico Coveri in Milan, but died of a heart attack, aged twenty-seven, before his promise could be fulfilled. 

Also look up for Boy George, Cox, Galliano, Montana  

FISH Michael (Mr Fish) (Designer)

Matching shirt, ribbon and waistcoat exemplify the work of Michael Fish. He was Swinging London's fey fashion boy and image-maker, whose camp, outrageous style defined "flower power". In 1965 he dressed the actor Terence Stamp in matching Liberty prints for the cult movie Modesty Blaise. One-inch ties were fashionable; Fish made Stamp's four inches wide. The following year he opened his men's boutique, Mr Fish, in London's Clifford Street near the heartland of tailoring, Savile Row. The clothing ranged from outfits cut from voile, sequins and brocade to flower-printed hats and "mini-shirts" (as famously worn by Mick Jagger for the Rolling Stones" Hyde Park concert). Other clients included Lord Snowdon and the Duke of Bedford. "The people in my shop don't dress to conform to any given image", said Fish. "They dress as they do because they're confident in themselves. They're blowing their minds". 

Also look up for Gilbey, Liberty, Nutter, Snowdon, Stephen

FISHER Donald & Doris (Gap) (Retailers)

Born in 1969 the disillusioned post-hippie era, Gap offered a reactionary-chic approach to the cultural phenomenon of the time. Immaculate, harmonious and unpretentious, it bridged societal fissures, notably the generation gap from which it drew its name. Founded by Donald and Doris Fisher, the company initially sold Levi's jeans and records before creating their own label of basic, modest merchandise in an extensive array of colours and sizes. Serving the homogeneous American masses with its brand of modernism cast in neatly piled, prismatic shades, Gap has become a widely copied retail phenomenon. In recent decades, it has developed the idea of gender integration, selling wardrobe basics with few differences between the men's and women's lines and pioneering the concept of "androgynous chic". The company has five primary brands: Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta and the namesake Gap. 

Also look up for Benetton, Fiorucci, Strauss, Topshop

FIORUCCI Elio (Designer)

Oliviero Toscani's colourful, sexy images for Fiorucci defined the disco era of the 1970s and early 1980s. The label's skintight Buffalo '70 jeans, worn here by Manhattan modelling queen Donna Jordan, were popular with New York's clubbing crowd. Jackie Kennedy, Diana Ross and Bianca Jagger were all fans. Elio Fiorucci is credited with inventing the concept of designer denim, a theme taken up by Gloria Vanderbilt, Calvin Klein and virtually every label-aware designer since. Fiorucci refused to design for women above a size 10, claiming his clothes suited smaller sizes better. Fiorucci also set out to make fashion fun, creating glittery Plexiglas jewellery and strawberry-scented carrier bags. His cheeky graphics included Vargas-style pin-ups and cherubs wearing sunglasses. He made his name in 1962 with rainbow-coloured Wellington boots. This was Fiorucci's forte: turning function into fashion without losing a sense of fun. 

Also look up for Benetton, Fisher, Kennedy, T. Roberts

FIELD Patricia (Stylist)

Patricia Field, a native New Yorker, began her career with the opening of her Greenwich Village boutique in 1966. For over forty-five years her eclectic designs have been a defining factor in the urban style of New York fashion. More recently Field was propelled into the limelight during her time as costume designer on the television series Sex and the City. The show _ set and filmed in the atmospheric streets of New York City _ became famous for its sharp, well-written episodes and fashion-forward heroines. Field's approach took outfits that would be attention-grabbing but not seasonal; luxury brands like Prada, Louis Vuitton and Gucci were given a witty street edge in Field's hands, worn by Sarah Jessica Parker as the central character, Carrie Bradshaw. Winning an Emmy Award in 2002 for her work on the show, Field was also nominated for an Oscar for her designs for the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006). 

Also look up for Apfel, Grand, Lady Gaga, Wintour 

FERRETTI Alberta (Designer)

Two women recline on a chaise longue in ethereal chiffon dresses. The overall effect is one of old-fashioned prettiness, yet their gaze and pose are self-assured, undermining any sense of passivity that prettiness might imply. "I like to think I design feminine clothes", says Ferretti. "Everything is created by a woman for women, understanding what they want". That vision is a particularly delicate one. Ferretti developed a special appreciation of textiles, especially daintily beaded or embroidered chiffons and sari silks, through watching her couturière mother at work. A young entrepreneur, she opened her own designer clothes shop at the age of seventeen. At the end of the twentieth century, Ferretti was one of the most powerful businesswomen in Italy, manufacturing not only her own collections but those of Narciso Rodriguez and Jean Paul Gaultier. 

Also look up for Von Etzdorf, Fendi, Prada, Rodriguez, Roversi 

FERRÉ Gianfranco (Designer)

The dramatic play on proportions of this white taffeta shirt _ exaggerated sleeves and cuffs and carefully structured corset _ link fashion with Gianfranco Ferré's training as an architect. "I use the same approach to clothes as I did when I designed buildings", he says. "It is basic geometry: you take a flat form and revolve it in space". Ferré originally worked as a jewellery and accessories designer, before launching a ready-to-wear label in Milan in 1978. In 1989 he was appointed artistic director at Christian Dior; his first collection was inspired by Cecil Beaton's black-and-white costumes for My Fair Lady (1964), preferring a neutral palette with dashes of his signature bright red. A perfectionist, his technical skill is shown in his precision tailoring, with a love of proportion-play revealed in his constant reinvention of the white shirt, worn with jodhpurs and evening skirts, but under Ferré's direction it is always glamorized. 

Also look up for Beaton, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Turlington

FERRAGAMO Salvatore (Shoe designer)

This shoe, which marries glamour with imagination, is made of golden kid leather. Salvatore Ferragamo was a shoemaker of great originality whose choice of materials made him unique. When leather was in short supply during the Second World War, he experimented with cellophane for the body of his shoes. For soles he revived the use of cork and wood. Amongst his other cobbling innovations were wedge heels, platform soles and the steel shaft that stabilizes spike heels. Ferragamo's heyday was after the war, when Italian fashion was recovering and film production was booming. Film stars, rich tourists and socialites such as the Duchess of Windsor flocked to his Florence shop. He also earned himself the sobriquet "shoemaker to the stars" by decorating the feet of two Hollywood generations, stretching from Gloria Swanson in the 1920s to Audrey Hepburn in the 1950s. 

Also look up for Gucci, Levine, Louboutin, Pfister, Windsor 

FÉRAUD Louis (Designer)

Sunny, heavily embroidered clothes are Louis Féraud's métier. The designer says of his work, "I live in the joy of being surrounded by women, of somehow directing their destiny, in so far as their destiny depends on a note of excess". In 1955, Féraud opened a boutique in Cannes. He had dressed the young star Brigitte Bardot in an off-the-shoulder, white piqué frock; 600 copies of this dress were sold and Féraud's success was established. Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and Christian Lacroix's mother were also customers. He opened a boutique in Paris where he began to produce couture alongside ready-to-wear, and he and his wife were dubbed "The Gypsies" because of their bright, Midi-inspired look. In the 1960s, Féraud's work was characterized by simple, architectural shapes with graphic detailing; Twiggy modelled the collections. Féraud designed the costumes for the cult television serial The Prisoner. 

Also look up for Bardot, Blair, Esterel, Ley

FENDI Adele & Edoardo (Designers)

Fendi's greatest achievement was to update fur's traditional image by giving it a contemporary edge. Here, fox is seen transformed into a punk coat. Adele Casagrande founded the company in 1918, changing its name when she married Edoardo Fendi in 1925. Since then Fendi has remained a family-run business, now managed by granddaughter Silvia after she inherited it from Adele's five daughters. Karl Lagerfeld became creative director in 1965 and introduced the family's now-iconic double-F motif in 1969. Under Lagerfeld the brand continues to make innovations in fur, combining a high-fashion aesthetic with high-tech developments, such as tiny perforations that make the coats lighter to wear. Also renowned for their bags; Fendi's "Baguette" handbag has become somewhat of an icon, and as such was widely copied when it was reintroduced in the late 1990s. 

Also look up for Lagerfeld, Léger, Prada, Revlon

FATH Jacques (Designer)

This image accentuates a perfect hourglass figure created on a soft line with a curving, structured shape. This evening dress evokes the heady exuberance and gaiety of the early 1950s, when Jacques Fath, called the "couturier's couturier", was in the same haute couture firmament as Christian Dior. He was famed for his feminine evening dresses, whipped up for royalty and movie stars. This golden era was described by his muse, Bettina, in an interview in 1994. She recalled the extremely creative atmosphere when he worked with assistants who were to succeed in their own right, such as Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy. Fath worked in tandem with the model. He moulded the fabric directly onto her body without any preliminary drawing. Standing in front of a mirror, he would ask her to strike a pose, creating a théâtre de la mode, which became the source for the design in the collection. 

Also look up for Bettina, Bourdin, Head, Lagerfeld, Maltézos, Perugia, Pipart

FARHI Nicole (Designer)

Easy, wearable, comfortable linen is the fabric most associated with the work of Nicole Farhi. When she launched her label in 1983, Farhi's clothes became the epitome of understated fashion for women _ all based on what she likes to wear. They are not intended to make major fashion statements. Instead, they drift with the differing times, staying in touch with them but always bearing the wearer in mind. Farhi described herself in the Guardian as "a feminist in a soft way", and her clothes appeal to women who are looking for approachable tailoring and casual clothes that have Farhi's own dressed-up European attitude. Farhi studied fashion in Paris and freelanced for de Castelbajac before moving to Britain in 1973 to design for the French Connection chain. In 1989 she introduced menswear to the Farhi label, blending British tailoring and her European unstructured style. 

Also look up for De Castelbajac, Kerrigan, Marant