Who? He is the master of easy chic and one of the leading American designers of luxury classic sportswear. Starting out with a women's collection, Kors expanded his brand to include an upscale menswear line. In March, he completed a contract with Celine with a display of his 13th collection in Paris.

Today, Kors is looking forward to focusing solely on his fashion house and the upcoming launch of MICHAEL - a ready-to-wear collection for men and women. Continuing the success of his accessories and fragrance lines, he also designs for the likes of Sharon Stone, Catherine Zeta Jones and Jennifer Lopez.

How did it happen? Born and raised on Long Island, a suburb of New York City, he studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. At 19, Kors was designing a collection for the boutique Lothar's in New York. Catching the attention of the fashion press, which encouraged him to strike out on his own, Kors created his own label in 1981, launching his first women's collection at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. A year after receiving the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Womenswear Designer of the Year in 1999, he launched his first fragrance for women. Building on that success, he launched a men's fragrance in 2001 and created a menswear line in 2002, which won wide acclaim.