Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
NEW YORK, United States — "The fashion industry is animated by the ideas, emotions and actions of a core community of influential global insiders," said Imran Amed, founder and chief executive of the Business of Fashion, on Saturday night at the #BoF500 Gala at the Public Hotel, supported by principal partner Target. "No other sector has a cast of characters as passionate, diverse and interesting, from blue-chip business titans to daring creative upstarts."
Who are the top designers, executives, editors, fashion-tech pioneers, models, muses and other catalysts shaping the global fashion business? For the last five years, The Business of Fashion has identified the industry's power players and gathered them together to form a community we call the BoF 500.
Today, BoF is proud to reveal the fifth annual BoF 500. This year, we welcome 99 new entrants from over 40 countries, from American model Slick Woods to Mitsuhiro Kubo, the founder and creative director of Tokyo's GR8 to artist-photographer Petra Collins. See the complete BoF 500 here.
On Saturday evening, members of the BoF 500 — both new and longstanding — came together to share insight and advice and to celebrate. The event also feted the launch of BoF’s latest special print edition — “Generation Next” — which examines Millennials and members of Gen-Z, a cohort that’s already a powerful driver of consumer culture expected to account for 45 percent of the global market for personal luxury goods by 2025.
Attendees at the #BoF500 Gala — our first held in New York City — included cover stars Selena Gomez and Adwoa Aboah as well as Jared Leto and fellow BoF 500 members Karlie Kloss, Halima Aden, Doutzen Kroes, Jordan Barrett, Ashley Graham, Imaan Hamman, Liu Wen, Rila Fukushima, Alek Wek, Lineisy Montero, Tommy Hilfiger, Pierre-Yves Roussel, Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg, Steven Kolb, Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez, Kris Van Assche, Elizabeth Saltzman, James Scully, Kate Young, Olivier Zahm, Virgil Abloh, Petra Collins, Hari Nef, Caroline de Maigret, Caroline Rush, Lauren Santo Domingo, Jason Wu and many more.
“I’m here today, how did that happen?” said the young model, and newly inducted BoF 500 member, Halima Aden. “Growing up, I never saw any hijab-wearing model, nobody… It’s surreal.”
“It’s such an honour to be a part of the Business of Fashion community,” added activist and model Hari Nef, a repeat BoF 500 member. “I love that there is a neutral, impartial, academic, assiduous and thorough news source that respects every perspective… It’s especially powerful — I’m thinking about the 13-year-old kid who wants to work in fashion one day and can literally go through the BoF 500 and [see]: This is who does what. I think it stands alone.”
“It’s wonderful to be recognised but more importantly to support the fact that there is a very unbiased and very clear point of view in the industry,” said Victor Luis, chief executive officer of Coach, Inc, a BoF 500 member since 2016.
This year's BoF 500 also features 27 new additions to our Hall of Fame, our highest honour, including Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, Andrew Rosen and Tom Ford.
But the Gala didn't end after dinner: guests then headed downstairs to Public Arts for intimate performances from three of Interscope Records’s buzzing artists — BØRNS, 6LACK and Daya — who kept the audience dancing and cheering until the early hours.
To accompany this year's #BoF500 Gala, we are pleased to launch our latest special print issue (available to buy here), featuring cover stars Selena Gomez, Adwoa Aboah, Lily-Rose Depp and Kris Wu, as well as in-depth interviews with Alexandre Arnault, Bruno Pavlovsky and the masterminds behind the recent success of Adidas.
Explore the full BoF 500 at businessoffashion.com/bof500.
