The BoF 500

As a leading figure in Senegal’s dynamic industry, the fashion week founder has connected designers across francophone Africa to global retail and marketing platforms.

An ardent supporter of the homegrown Japanese fashion industry, she called upon the government to invest in the sector.

The prolific blogger and publicist has helped to develop the luxury market in her native Brazil while championing local designers.

Paris’ first female mayor is also the first to take a real interest in the influence of the French capital as fashion’s most important hub.

Head of the world’s biggest modelling agency, Emanuel revolutionised Hollywood by consolidating the town’s biggest creative agencies.

The co-founder of Miromoda advances the careers of fashion talent from Maori and other underrepresented communities in New Zealand while championing indigenous design.

The brains behind fashion’s era-defining Fifteen Percent Pledge has shaken up the way the industry approaches inclusion — and accountability.

The emerging talent competition that she founded has now enrolled over 60,000 applicants, resulting in 550 finalists including Demna Gvasalia and Peter Pilotto.

The digitally-savvy PR veteran founded his agency at Hedi Slimane’s urging and represents innovative brands in art, fashion and architecture.

The founder of management company The Wall Group, which boasts over 150 clients, helped usher in the rise of the celebrity stylist.

After spearheading sustainability initiatives at the likes of Kering and Swarovski, he took the helm at one of the industry’s most distinguished educational institutions before leading the Fashion Commission of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture.

The model and activist uses her platform and influence to shed light on harassment and abuse of models in the fashion industry.