5 Influential Immigrants in American Fashion

While the bans and regulations on immigration are seemly getting worse by the day, I wanted to compile a list of immigrants who have helped shape the American fashion industry. After all, this nation was founded on immigrants. As Hillary Clinton once said “We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants.” Let’s take a look at some of fashion’s most influential immigrants.

von Furstenberg is known for her wrap dresses and views on feminism. Image credits: WBUR/wbur.org

Diane von Furstenberg

Diane von Furstenberg came to America from Belgium in 1969 with her husband at the time, Prince Egon von Furstenberg of Switzerland. She began making her iconic wrap dresses a year later, inspired by a woman she saw on TV who was wearing a wrap shirt and a skirt. Today, her name is known and loved by all in the industry. She has sold millions of her iconic dress.

Wintour is rarely pictured without her iconic sunglasses. Image credits: Getty Images/nypost.com

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour is one of the most iconic influencers in fashion today. She first came to the U.S. from England in 1976, when she became the Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Wintour is now Editor-in-chief at and Editorial Director of Cond é Nast.

Oscar de la Renta worked for designers like Elizabeth Arden, Jane Derby, and Balmain before creating his own label. Image credit: Fustany/fustany.com

Oscar de la Renta

The Dominican designer migrated to America in 1963. Oscar de la Renta had been working for European designers and fashion houses such as Cristóbal Balenciaga and Lanvin. When he came to the U.S., he started working for Elizabeth Arden before creating his own label in 1965.

Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger have both sat in the front row for Carolina Herrera’s shows. Image credits: Getty Images/townandcountrymag.com

Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan fashion designer who moved to New York in 1981 to get started with her fashion label. Since beginning her label, she has dressed many famous clients, the most famous being Jackie Kennedy-Onassis.

Phillip Lim originally majored in Business, but switched to Home Economics, which is where he learned to sew and make clothes. Image credit: Getty Images/huffingtonpost.com

Phillip Lim

Phillip Lim’s family immigrated to Southern California from Thailand in the early 1970s. Lim didn’t get his start in fashion, but soon realized his love for designing clothing. He and his co-founder Wen Zhou founded the clothing line 3.1 Phillip Lim in 2005.

Some of the most influential people in the fashion industry have come to this country as immigrants, helping to shape the industry we know today. We can only hope that those who look down on immigrants will open their eyes to see the positive influence that immigrants have had on America.

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