Giorgio Armani

Rave reviews from Milan's winter fashion week prove the 76-year-old is still setting trends. The designer to the stars also markets perfume, baby clothes, home decor and 5-figure watches. In 2009 he opened a 43,000-square-foot megastore on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. The designer has licensed his name for a string of hotels; Dubai's Burj Khalifa hotel opened in April 2010. Spent 2 years in medical school at the University of Piacenza before dropping out in 1957 to take a job as a department store buyer. The Italian designer received France's Legion of Honor in summer 2008.