Who wants to be a $tylish millionaire?
03.07.00
Tom Ford is hip. Donatella Versace is rock and roll. And Ralph Lauren is all-American. Giorgio Armani? He's just plain rich.
In fact, he's not only the richest fashionista on the planet, with earnings of $135 million last year, he's also No. 3 overall on the Forbes Celebrity 100, slipping in behind No. 1 George Lucas at $400 million and Oprah at $150 million.
Not bad for a designer who first got the public's attention when Richard Gere sported the swanky apparel in "American Gigolo." Armani has spent a quarter of a century building an empire comprised of elegant apparel for men and women. He is also known as the first designer to really embrace Hollywood.
"He was the first designer to milk his celebrity connections by developing a publicity machine to get his clothes on the backs of Hollywood's most influential and visible A-list of actors, directors, producers and agents," according to "The End of Fashion" by Teri Agins.
Bill Blass is the next designer on the list, weighing in at No. 14 with $50 million, gained by selling his company. Further on down in the 40s are the rest of the big name designers: Tommy Hilfiger at No. 44 with a fortune of $22 million, No. 45 Calvin Klein with earnings of $21.5 millions and No. 48 Donna Karan with $20 million.
Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford are model earners at No. 66 with $9 million and No. 67 with $8 million, respectively.
