From Anna Wintour to the Untouchables of Fashion: Who Really Calls the Shots?
- Romina Tosi
- Jun 10
- 5 min read
This reflection was inspired by reading Vanity Fair’s article on Anna Wintour, in which the Vogue editor names four designers she considers “untouchable”:
Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Virgil Abloh, and Elsa Schiaparelli.
This reflection came to me after reading Vanity Fair’s article on Anna Wintour, in which the Vogue editor-in-chief names four designers she considers “untouchable”:
Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Virgil Abloh, and Elsa Schiaparelli.
It brought me back to a topic I had already explored while writing about The Devil Wears Prada 2: fashion is not just changing its tools. It is changing its power structures.
From print to digital. From editors to algorithms. From a vertical system to one that is faster, more unstable, and more participatory.
That is why Wintour’s selection strikes me as particularly interesting. It is not a ranking of famous names. It is a group of people who lived through major transformations and left behind something that continues to matter even when the system itself changes.
At first glance, these four designers have very little in common. Different eras, different languages, different obsessions.
And yet they all answer the same question:
When fashion changes, what remains?
What remains are those who changed the language.
Making beautiful clothes is not enough. There are already plenty of press releases for that, unfortunately.
Karl Lagerfeld: The Institution That Refused to Be Preserved in Amber
Karl Lagerfeld did not invent Chanel. He did something more difficult: he prevented Chanel from becoming a monument.
When he arrived at the maison, its codes were already firmly established: tweed, pearls, camellias, black and white, the jacket, the chain, the double C.
Lagerfeld understood that respecting those codes was not enough. If you want a legacy to stay alive, you have to use it, reshape it, and adapt it to the present.
That was his talent.
He took some of fashion’s most powerful symbols and turned them into a language that never stopped moving. Every Chanel collection remained recognizable, but never static. The past was not preserved. It was put back into circulation.
In this sense, Lagerfeld also speaks to the theme of authority.
He embodied the institution, yet he understood that prestige alone does not guarantee the future. A system survives only if it decides what to preserve and what to rewrite.
Gianni Versace: Fashion Before Social Media
Gianni Versace understood early on that fashion does not live only in ateliers.
It lives in images, music, magazine covers, celebrities, and the collective imagination.
With him, clothing became part of the spectacle.
Gold, Medusa, baroque prints, leather, metal mesh, unapologetic sensuality. Everything was designed to be seen and remembered.
But reducing Versace to “sexy” is both convenient and inaccurate.
His contribution goes far beyond aesthetics.
Versace understood before many others that fashion and pop culture were destined to merge.
Supermodels became global characters. Celebrities became part of the brand narrative.
Long before social media and influencer marketing, Versace had already sensed that fashion would become shared imagery.
His legacy is not just a silhouette.
It is a cultural universe that remains instantly recognizable today.
Virgil Abloh: When Luxury Changes Its Audience
Virgil Abloh is perhaps the name that best explains the present moment.
His revolution was never just about the product.
It was about who gets to enter fashion—and who gets to influence it.
Abloh did not come from the traditional system. He came from architecture, music, street culture, and the internet.
Through Off-White and later Louis Vuitton, he brought into luxury a set of languages that, only a few years earlier, many would have dismissed as marginal.
His strength lay in translation.
He read the cultural codes of his time and brought them into fashion.
Sneakers, graphic design, collaborations, communities, digital references—everything became part of contemporary luxury.
The quotation marks, the zip ties, the arrows, the text printed on objects divided opinion sharply.
And that is precisely the point.
Abloh made the mechanism visible.
A garment could also be a quotation, a commentary, a question.
Luxury no longer spoke only from above.
It absorbed languages born on the street, online, and within communities.
The audience changed.
The tone changed.
Elsa Schiaparelli: When the Idea Matters More Than the Trend
When platforms, media, and market rules change, ideas survive.
Elsa Schiaparelli proves this better than most.
Her relationship with Surrealism, her collaborations with Salvador Dalí, the lobster dress, shocking pink, object-accessories, and unexpected forms all tell the story of a fashion that does not simply want to dress people.
It wants to surprise.
It wants to spark conversation.
It wants to force the viewer to pause for a few seconds longer.
If Chanel built its identity through restraint, Schiaparelli built hers through invention.
She was not searching for the essential.
She was searching for the idea.
That is why her work remains so relevant.
In an era dominated by speed and the rapid consumption of images, Schiaparelli reminds us that fashion can still be a form of thought.
Not just a product.
Not just an image.
The Untouchables Are Not Untouchable by Accident
Anna Wintour did not choose these four names simply because they are famous.
She chose them because each one understood a transformation before everyone else.
Lagerfeld reinvented tradition without destroying it.
Versace understood that fashion would become pop culture.
Abloh opened luxury to new languages and new audiences.
Schiaparelli demonstrated that ideas outlast trends.
The question remains the same:
When a system changes, what truly remains?
Platforms do not remain.
Algorithms do not remain.
Even hierarchies do not remain.
What remains are the people who changed the language.
And perhaps that is exactly what makes a designer truly untouchable.
After them, fashion can never return to being exactly what it was before.
If you had to choose one person who changed the way we see the world—not only in fashion, but in any field—who would make your list of “untouchables”?
Romina Tosi
Disclaimer
The views expressed above represent my personal interpretation of publicly available information and, like any interpretation, may be shared, debated, or challenged.
The information referenced comes from public sources available at the time of publication, including official documents, union communications, press articles, and materials accessible to anyone. I do not disclose confidential information or facts learned through privileged access. I do not reveal protected information, nor do I attribute unlawful conduct to individuals or companies.
Any reference to specific cases is intended solely to provide context and analyze dynamics affecting the broader industry. It is not intended to target individuals or particular businesses.
Observations regarding industrial strategies, financial decisions, and production models fall within the right to express opinions and commentary on matters of public interest. They remain personal assessments, not definitive judgments.
Not all companies operate in the same way. Alongside businesses that may deserve criticism, there are many others that work with seriousness, consistency, and long-term vision.
If you notice any errors or inaccuracies, please let me know. I will be happy to review and correct them where necessary.
The purpose of this reflection is to encourage discussion and debate, not to cause harm to individuals, companies, or organizations.
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