Ever wonder what a lifetime in fashion could bring someone? Well after hearing the news that iconic designer Michael Kors was recently announced as a billionaire, it looks like it can bring a hefty paycheck. After his company barring his name went public back in 2011, Kors had flirted with the possibility of adding himself into the list of 10 digits, but it took him until now to actually achieve such status, not only guaranteeing that he can purchase nearly anything he would ever want to, but also placing himself as one of the most influential and successful designers of the past 25 years or so.
The 54-year-old Kors began his career by dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Technology to design an in-house line for a store called Lothar’s on 57th Street in New York City. He then launched his own line of womenswear in 1981, experiencing the many struggles of running an own business—even fighting through bankruptcy in the ’90s.
Showing that he is quite the businessman, Kors not only overcame the early deficits, but in the past 11 years alone has seen his company Michael Kors LLC grow in value from $100 million in 2003 to today’s market price of over $18.5 billion. That in itself not only catapulted Kors into the billion dollar club, but also his Chinese investors—Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll—who each have a net worth of over $2 billion, making their trust in the company quite the business decision.
Kors becoming a billion dollar fashion designer is big news, but he’s not the first, as names like Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren), Renzo Rosso (Diesel Jeans) and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana) have all established themselves into that threshold as well, proving that there’s quite the money in high fashion these days.
Image via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors
