Michelle Obama in Time’s 100 Fashion Icons list

LONDON: TIME magazine has listed the world’s 100 most infl uential style superstars in anticipation of its annual poll. While child actors-turneddesigners Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the First Lady and the ‘monster mother’ Lady Gaga made it to the list, many big-name creatives and fashion pioneers failed to feature, the Daily Mail reported. Divided into categories, the list is fairly exhaustive and includes designers and brands, models, muses, photographers and editors and stylists, whose careers stretch back to 1923 when TIME was launched. Still, as with any list-making endeavour, there were bound to be oversights. The 25-year-old Olsen duo join iconic creators such as Miuccia Prada, Coco Chanel and Christian Dior on the Designers and Brands list, which seems a strange choice when many prominent and highly infl uential succeeding designers, save for John Galliano, and Karl Lagerfeld, were clearly missing. Raf Simons, Christopher Bailey and Hedi Slimane, who is credited for bringing skinny jeans to the mainstream, were all left off the list, which doesn’t include any notable retailers either, such as Andrew Saks and Ikram Goldman. However a few headturners made the cut, such as Sarah Blakely, the inventor of Spanx, who TIME said “has helped shape the modern woman – literally”. Jacques Heim and Louis Reard, the men who invented the two piece swimsuit, which eventually became the bikini, also featured. On the list of Editors and Stylists, others may wonder where the more mainstream visionaries are who have made an impact, like Rachel Zoe. While more predictable mentions were included, such as Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, renowned fashion critics Cathy Horyn and Suzy Menkes were both left out. This is mostly noteworthy for the fact that Robin Gavensen, however, was mentioned. She is the Pulitzer prize winning Daily Beast writer who Karl Lagerfeld publicly claimed to have never heard of, after she wrote a less than shining review of his current designer status. Michelle Obama joins former First Lady Jackie Onassis in the muses category, who sit alongside the likes of Lady Gaga, Brigitte Bardot and Andy Warhol - however Warhol’s own iconic muse, Edie Sedgwick, is noticeably missing. In the models category, Nineties supers including Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss make an appearance, but Claudia Schiffer, ‘The Body’ Elle Macpherson and Christy Turlington were left off. Gisele Bundchen, who topped the Forbes magazine World’s 10 Top-Earning Models in May last year, is listed, but as far as newer faces go it ends with her. Younger iconic faces like Lara Stone and Coco Rocha were left off, who have made waves in both editorial aspects of the modelling industry as well as their role in helping to re-shape it, bringing attention to its body issues and labour issues, respectively. While Heidi Klum was counted, Tyra Banks, who as well as building a a successful empire, was the fi rst African- American woman to feature on covers of both the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Victoria’s Secret catalogue, was surprisingly missing. TIME magazine’s top 100 fashion icons included: Giorgio Armani, Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, Tom Ford,Calvin Klein, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Louboutin, Alexander McQueen, Levi Strauss, Gisele Bundchen, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, Kate Moss, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Michelle Obama, Princess Diana