Anna Wintour
The daughter of a former London Evening Standard editor, Anna Wintour was seemingly destined for magazine fame. She had stints at New York, House & Garden and British Vogue before becoming editor in chief of American Vogue, where her near quarter-century tenure has established her as the most influential fashion editor of her generation. Her imprint on the industry is as pervasive as it is unmatched: Wintour has an effect on everything from the creative direction of a designer's collection and the items carried by department stores to the success of an up-and-coming designer, writer or photographer. She has made Vogue the most profitable book in the fashion industry and launched a number of spin-offs, including Teen Vogue and Men's Vogue. Her tough and demanding attitude as a boss have become a thing of legend — and pop culture, with the release of 2006's The Devil Wears Prada — earning her nicknames like "Nuclear" Wintour. But she is likely to be remembered as much for her support for emerging designers, her political fundraising and her charity work as for her temperament.