Top 10 Fashion Influencers of 2013: We count down the biggest and best moments

Capping off a year in style always seems so, for lack of a better word, crazy. With just about a meme a minute and the web’s proclivity for hyperbole (we’re guilty), there seem to have been so many “best moments ever.” Many of those moments involved the 10 influencers on this list, which helps. But many of them, like this, this and this will just live in our mind for all eternity until we fixate on something else. Meanwhile, here’s who we think was at the top of their game in 2013.

Jennifer Lawrence

The goofy glamorous 22-year-old bewitched everyone this year, from The Academy to Jack Nicholson. Christian Dior was quick to scoop her up, naming Lawrence the face of Miss Dior and dressing her for virtually every red carpet appearance of the year. Most notably, her powder pink creampuff of an Oscars gown made headlines when the actress over it on her way up to accept her award for Best Actress, which she made up for in self deprecating spades.

See our complete Jennifer Lawrence fashion gallery »

Imran Amed

Far from its humble blogger beginnings in 2007, Business of Fashion is one of the best examples of what analysis driven editorial can do in the digital age of fashion. Its evolution to the forefront of the industry was never better captured than with this year’s BoF 500, an international ranking of fashion’s power players, many of whom responded in spades. In kind, Calgary-born founder Imran Amed has catapulted himself to the top of the well-respected charts alongside veteran journos like Tim Blanks, Colin McDowell and Bridget Foley.

Miley Cyrus

From the VMAs to our November issue cover to the impending release of her latest controversial video, what hasn’t Miley Cyrus influenced (or should we incited) this year? In the fashion world, it was her wholehearted embracing of the nineties revival that made her the talk of the town as well as Marc Jacobs’ latest It girl.

See our complete Miley Cyrus fashion gallery »

Richard Baker

While he may not be a household name quite yet, the 48-year-old retail tycoon is the reason behind much of Canada’s retail landscape shift of late. As the majority stakeholder in HBC, Baker was the brain behind the purchase (and recently-announced Canadian opening) of Saks Fifth Avenue as well as 2011’s Zellers Target sell offs. Expect much more from this guy soon.

Kimye

They might have clawed their way here, but Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have finally made it to the top of the influential heap, with one very public Givenchy-clad pregnancy, many hyperbole-filled rants and a few Margiela face masks.

Hedi Slimane

Love him or hate him, the guy’s got staying power. Though his first two collections for Saint Laurent received some very critical backlash (one which made 2012’s recap), they’ve have had major retail success and have maintained front and centre status on the trend circuit, spawning 2013’s grunge redux.

Cara Delevingne

The 21-year-old model had an early influential start, being heralded as the model of the season by Style.com’s Spring 2013 print issue and the model of the year by British Vogue. Even with a pretty-bare Fall 2013 walking season, she kept her It status, recently proven fact by Google’s just-released 2013 results, which name her as the top searched fashion figure in the U.K.

Rihanna

Fashion is about Rihanna right now, with designers not only dressing her for events, but dreaming up full collections with her in mind. Upon announcing her as his label’s new face, Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing said, “When the woman that inspires you wears your creations, your vision feels complete.” To boot, Rihanna transferred her fever-pitch album release schedule to fashion, launching three back-to-back collections for both M.A.C. and Brit store River Island in the last few months alone.

See our complete Rihanna fashion gallery »

Marc Jacobs

The influential designer shocked us all when he announced that Spring 2014 would be his last collection as creative director of Louis Vuitton. It’s reported that the decision was a strategic one, helping him prep for an eventual IPO offering of his namesake brand. The exit made way for the return of another titan of design, Nicolas Ghesquière, who replaced him at the helm in November.  

Beyoncé

The megastar’s explosive December 13th album release almost had us forgetting that this has indeed been a year full of amazing Queen Bey moments from the Superbowl to her starring role in H&M’s swimsuit ads. None of tops the album though, which comes complete with 18 videos chockfull of the icon in various modes of fashion (and world) domination.