Michael Kors

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Tennis, anyone? Of course, but only if followed up with cocktails at the club. Such is the life of Michael Kors' all-American, sporty-chic heroine. Busy? Sure. Hard? Never.

Glamorous eveningwear and haute preppy separates are Kors' stock in trade—and business is good. He is a perennial fave of apple-pie sweethearts (Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Garner) and va-va-vooms (J. Lo and Heidi Klum) alike. They look to Kors for a classic sheath, turtleneck, trench, or caftan, all done up in high-end materials (four-ply cashmere, silvery fox, etc).

Born on Long Island in 1959, Kors was already selling his designs by the age of 19, at a New York boutique called Lothar's. He founded his own label in 1981, and by 1997, he had also taken the wheel at the French fashion house Celine (a position he held until 2004). His trophy case is packed, with two Designer of the Year Awards from the CFDA, for womenswear in 1999 and menswear in 2003, on the shelves.

Accessories, added to the lineup in 2001, are as big a part of the Kors lifestyle as a slinky jersey dress. Famous on Seventh Avenue for decades, Kors has become a major household name as a judge on TV's Project Runway.

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