When you think of women who influence fashion, you probably think of famous designers, supermodels, or celebrities whose names are everywhere. But have you ever wondered who picks the clothes that end up in stores or decides what a magazine cover looks like?
Scores of women make those choices every day, and most of us have no idea who they are, even though their work is all around us. Some of the women making the biggest impact in fashion are actually the ones we rarely hear about.
Elizabeth von der Glotz, Editorial credit: Mauro Del Signore / Shutterstock.com
Take Elizabeth von der Goltz, for example.
She’s a fashion executive and buyer who has worked at some major luxury retailers. She is one of the people deciding which brands and styles shoppers get to see. It’s not something you usually think about when you’re browsing a store, but those decisions can have a huge impact on what’s popular.
Von der Goltz hasn’t just focused on big, established brands. As The Guardian reported in 2020, Net-a-Porter launched The Vanguard during her tenure, giving emerging designers access to its legal, marketing and business development teams. Getting noticed in fashion isn’t exactly easy, especially when competing with brands that are already well-known. By giving smaller designers a shot, von der Goltz is helping other women turn their ideas into actual businesses.
Then there’s Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, a stylist and fashion editor who clearly isn’t afraid to have fun with clothes.
She mixes bright colors, bold prints, and pieces that you might never think to put together. Somehow, she makes it all work.
Karefa-Johnson became the first Black woman to style a Vogue cover with the magazine’s January 2021 issue, according to Teen Vogue. Her looks appear in magazines and campaigns, giving readers fresh ideas about what they might want to wear themselves.
And her work sends a message: You don’t have to dress like everyone else or buy whatever’s trending to have great style. Sometimes, the best outfits are the ones that feel the most like you. Her styling gives women ideas and confidence to try something different.
Nadine Ijewere works behind a camera as a fashion photographer who wants more kinds of beauty to be seen.
For years, fashion magazines featured the same types of faces again and again, leaving many women underrepresented. Ijewere’s photos help change that. She photographs women from different racial and cultural backgrounds and makes their individuality part of what makes the images beautiful. With British Vogue’s January 2019 cover, unveiled in December 2018, she became the first Black woman to photograph a cover for any edition of Vogue.
Her work also shapes how clothing and beauty are presented in magazines, giving readers a different idea of what fashion can look like. Imagine flipping through a publication and seeing someone who looks like you, wearing styles you might want to try. That kind of representation matters, especially for women who haven’t always felt included in the fashion world.
So the next time you see a new trend, a magazine cover, or a designer you’ve never heard of, remember that someone helped make it happen.
Von der Goltz, Karefa-Johnson, and Ijewere might not be the first names that come to mind when you think about fashion, but they’re making a big difference in the industry.
They’re helping women get noticed, feel represented, and find new ways to express themselves through clothes.
And that’s worth talking about.