61 Best Designer Brands Ever, For High-End Fashion
People seek out high-end fashion brands because of the quality of the material and the luxury of name recognition. So whether you are interested in clothing, shoes, or other accessories, the best designer brands send out signals of luxury and comfort.
And often, the scarcity of these brands makes them so appealing. So let’s examine 61 of the best designer brands and what makes them unique!
Dolce & Gabbana
Founded in 1985 by Italian designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce, the brand Dolce & Gabbana makes high-end clothing, handbags, cosmetics, and other accessories. The brand has menswear and womenswear, although it is more famous for its unique take on women’s fashion.
While Dolce & Gabbana draws on the breadth of Italian culture to influence its style, the brand particularly takes ideas from Sicilian culture. The weather and Mediterranean colors of Sicily influence many of the striking women’s dresses the brand has put out. But Dolce & Gabbana has also put out many men’s coats, pants, and shirts that can be expensive.
Balenciaga
The Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga founded the fashion brand Balenciaga in 1919 when he opened his first store in San Sebastian, Spain. After some expansion within Spain, Balenciaga grew in popularity after moving to Paris in 1937. And by the 1950s, the brand was famous.
Currently, the multinational luxury goods corporation Kering owns the brand, which is well known for putting out high-end clothing, footwear, handbags, and other accessories. The brand’s luxury coats and shoes can be thousands of dollars. Balenciaga also licenses its brand name to the beauty company Coty for its fragrances.
Louis Vuitton
Due to its being the most valuable high-end fashion brand for many consecutive years, Louis Vuitton is often called the most luxurious brand in the world. Founded in Paris in 1854, the fashion house puts its well-known “LV” logo on clothing, shoes, perfumes, watches, jewelry, and other accessories like sunglasses.
The brand does billions of dollars in revenue across its 450 stores, which operate in 50 countries worldwide. You might be particularly familiar with their fancy handbags and collaborations with celebrities such as Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Sean Connery, and Angelina Jolie.
Gucci
Guccio Gucci founded the Italian luxury brand Gucci in 1921 in Florence. Guccio’s son Aldo helped propel the company to become known worldwide beginning in the 1950s, and the brand is famous for its clothing, footwear, home decoration, and other accessories.
Due to family fighting and other problems, the Gucci family lost a financial stake in the brand by the early 1990s. In 1999, the French fashion corporation Kering—the same group that owns Balenciaga—acquired Gucci. The brand is still well-known for its high-end leather bags, belts, and shoes.
Tom Ford
After working as a creative director at Gucci, Tom Ford launched his fashion company by the same name in 2005. Ford grew up in Texas, has a degree in architecture, and has directed multiple films. But now he is a chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and runs one of the most luxurious fashion labels worldwide.
Tom Ford makes expensive and sought-after clothing, beauty products, eyewear, and other accessories. His menswear targets cultured customers who have disposable income and wish to look well-traveled and unique.
Dior Homme
Christian Dior founded his fashion label Dior in 1946 in Paris. French businessman and art collector Bernard Arnault currently controls the brand. Since its founding more than 75 years ago, the brand has become well-known worldwide for clothing, shoes, and fragrance.
After the designer Hedi Slimane integrated a new approach to menswear in 2001, the label became popular with high-scale men’s clothing and fragrance in the Dior Homme collection. Celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Mick Jagger are among the brand’s clientele.
Givenchy
Hubert de Givenchy founded the French luxury fashion house Givenchy in 1952. You may be familiar with the brand from its famous black dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. More recently, celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, and Ariana Grande publicly wear the Givenchy brand.
Currently, Givenchy exists under the larger umbrella of Louis Vuitton, and the brand has a reputation for spirited and creative women’s clothing. You can also find unique men’s clothing, such as jackets that have the creative twist of Givenchy.
Salvatore Ferragamo
Salvatore Ferragamo founded the Italian luxury goods company Ferragamo in 1927 in Florence, Italy. After living in the United States for over ten years, working in shoe factories, and opening a boot shop, Ferragamo returned to Italy to start his brand.
Early success was due to designing shoes for big stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Currently, the brand sells many expensive leather shoes for both men and women. Leather products are the majority of the brand, although there are also silk products like ties, pocket squares, and scarves.
Bottega Veneta
Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro established the luxury fashion brand Bottega Veneta in 1966 in Vicenza, Italy. Currently based in Milan, the fashion house has product lines in clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and fragrances.
The classic look of Bottega Veneta is the weaving pattern of the leather material, a technique called “Intrecciato.” Even though the brand does not have an obvious logo, the craftsmanship of its textures and patterns makes it easily recognizable. You can see similar marks of this pattern in their shoes, handbags, and other ready-to-wear clothing.
Prada
Founded in Milan in 1913 by Mario Prada, the Italian fashion house Prada specializes in a wide variety of high-end products. Their output includes leather handbags, shoes, clothing, and various accessories. But the brand’s modest beginnings are outshined by the success of Mario’s granddaughter Miuccia Prada, who took over the company in 1978.
Miuccia’s first products were a lineup of waterproof nylon backpacks, and she later put out designer shoes and opened up more boutiques. Prada’s classic handbag came out in 1985, a product that particularly gave the brand worldwide attention. Currently, the company does billions in yearly revenue and also puts out eyewear, perfumes, and watches.
Bulgari (BVLGARI)
Sotirios Boulgaris founded a jewelry shop in Greece in 1884, and over time it would turn into the international fashion brand Bulgari. You will often see the name stylized in the Latin alphabet as BVLGARI, and the brand is particularly known for its watches and jewelry.
The watches blend Swiss watchmaking techniques with Italian design aesthetics, and the jewelry collection includes Divas’ Dream, B.zero1, and Serpenti. You can also find the Bulgari style at hotels and resorts due to their 2001 venture with Ritz Carlton. These destinations blend Italian design and architecture in a way that mimics the brand’s style.
Fendi
Adele and Edoardo Fendi launched the fashion house Fendi in Rome in 1925. At the time, the business was just a leather and fur shop, but the brand would eventually include bags, shoes, clothing, eyewear, and other accessories in its product lineup.
The French fashion conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton—like many of the other brands in this article—owns Fendi as part of its Fashion and Leather Goods division. Currently, the fashion house does over a billion dollars in revenue annually and has collaborated with Kim Kardashian on certain clothing collections.
Comme des Garcons
Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo created the fashion label Comme des Garcons in 1969. The brand found success within Japan through the 1970s and became known throughout the rest of the world in the 1980s for its unique punk style.
Currently, the flagship store for Comme Des Garcons is in Paris, and the company is featured at Paris Fashion week annually. Besides clothing, the brand also makes unconventional fragrances that mimic the unique/counter-culture style of its clothing.
Stella McCartney
English fashion designer Stella McCartney—daughter of the famous Beatles singer/songwriter Paul McCartney—launched her fashion brand in 2001. The French fashion conglomeration Kering owns 50 percent of the label, and it has a positive reputation for its involvement in environmentalism and animal rights.
The sustainability aspect of the company comes from her mother, and it means that the brand commits to non-violent means of creating its clothing. Since the founding and opening of many stores, McCartney has also ventured into perfumes and lingerie. The brand’s menswear combines an urban appearance with sporty energy.
Ralph Lauren
Founded in 1967 in New York City, Ralph Lauren is a popular fashion company that began as a men’s tie company. Lauren worked for a tie manufacturer Beau Brummell at the time and convinced his boss that he could start a new line of ties. Now Ralph Lauren puts out a range of products in categories such as apparel, fragrances, home, and accessories.
The fashion brand has a range of products, from mid-range luxury lines such as Chaps to high-end luxury products in the Purple Collection. Ralph Lauren also licenses its branding to other companies for its eyewear, cosmetics, and fragrances. These companies include Luxottica, Hanesbrands, and Kohl’s.
Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent founded the French luxury fashion house Saint Laurent—also called YSL—in 1962, along with his partner Pierre Bergé. The brand specializes in handmade and custom-fitted luxury fashion (called “haute couture”) but also puts out ready-made garments, shoes, and leather accessories.
Stemming from the anti-materialistic movements of the 60s and 70s, the brand still puts out revolutionary clothes for high fashion that sends out non-conformist signals. In addition to the above products, Saint Laurent also has a cosmetics line called YSL Beauty that is owned by the French personal care company L’Oréal.
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani first found his reputation working for Allegri, Bagutta, Hilton, and Cerruti. And in Milan in 1975, along with his partner Sergio Galeotti, he officially founded Armani, the Italian luxury fashion brand that is a strong part of pop culture.
Armani puts out ready-made clothes, shoes, haute couture, leather products, and other accessories. The brand also licenses its name to companies like Luxottica and L’Oréal for products like eyewear and fragrances. Armani has women’s clothes, but they are much more popular with their menswear, particularly the famed Armani suit.
Kenzo
Kenzo Takada founded the French fashion house Kenzo in 1970, and it is another brand owned by LVMH. LVMH is the fashion conglomerate formed from the merger of Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton, and in total, it controls 75 high-end fashion brands.
Kenzo blends Japanese style with French influences, and as such, they put exotic graphics and pattern designs on their clothes. Celebrities such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Jay-Z have all worn Kenzo clothing.
Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood started her fashion brand in London in 1971, and she was one of the early proponents of the fashion behind the punk counterculture movement. Generally, her style is independent and showcases her unique creativity. For example, her output in the late 1980s was a creative Victorian style influenced by the Russian ballet Petrushka.
Among many of her recognitions and collaborations, she worked with Richard Branson to design the uniforms for Virgin Atlantic. Westwood also won the award for British Fashion Designer of the Year three times.
Balmain
Pierre Balmain founded the French luxury fashion house Balmain in 1945, and the brand has a French style and a highly regarded legacy for craftsmanship and attention to detail. The brand found its first big fame in the period after World War II when celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot and Ava Gardner wore its clothes—Balmain was an icon of French fashion by that point.
Besides the Balmain logo, the distinguishing features of their garments include gold medallions and tassels, unique embellishments, and other signature buttons and symbols. More recently, beginning in 2017, the brand launched an accessory line, including a lipstick collaboration with L’Oreal.
Hermès
Thierry Hermès founded the luxury goods brand Hermés in Paris in 1837. You may recognize its famous logo of a horse and carriage, and the brand puts out a range of luxury products in the categories of clothing, perfume, watches, leather goods, and other accessories. Hermés also specializes in home furnishings.
But their first claim to fame was with leather products. Bags (especially Birkin bags) are among their most iconic products. The luxury house has continued to grow worldwide, opening new stores and growing in revenue. In 2019, Forbes rated Hermés as 33rd on their list of the World’s Most Valuable Brands.
Alexander McQueen
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen founded this label by the same name in 1992, and the brand has a reputation for being edgy and unconventional. The clothing designs and risky take on runway shows made a name for the brand as creative, risky, and controversial.
One of the primary controversies was the 1995 collection “bumster trousers.” After McQueen died in 2010, Sarah Burton became the creative director and helped propel the luxury brand into more success.
Burberry
Thomas Burberry founded the British fashion company Burberry in 1856 when he was only 21 years old. While the brand puts out all manner of ready-to-wear clothing, footwear, leather accessories, and cosmetics, it is most famous for its trench coats.
The expensive trench coats, along with the accompanying line of scarves, have an unmistakable appearance and were popularized in Britain after World War I. Like many of the top fashion companies in this article, Burberry also has partnerships for its fragrances, cosmetics, and eyewear.
Chanel
If you have already heard of the luxury brand Chanel, it is likely because of its Chanel Number 5 perfume or its Little Black Dress. Founded by the French fashion designer Coco Chanel in 1910, the brand transformed custom-fitted/high-end fashion.
In particular, Chanel is credited for transforming the structured corset style filled with uncomfortable complications into more comfortable and functional clothing that still had style. Besides clothing, luxury goods, and famous perfumes, Chanel also partners with Luxottica for its eyewear collection.
Berluti
Alessandro Berluti founded the luxury leather-making brand Berluti in 1895, and they are particularly famous for their leather shoes. Their shoes and boots use alligator skin, kangaroo leather, and calfskin. These special leathers and their unique craftsmanship give their products an unmistakable appeal.
But besides footwear and other leather products, Berluti also makes ready-to-wear garments. Some celebrities who have worn Berluti products include Robert De Niro, Frank Sinatra, Roman Polanski, and Dean Martin.