Who

As Vogue's creative director, the flame-haired fashionista wields major influence over who—and what—ends up in Vogue.

Backstory

Born and raised on the rainy Welsh island of Anglesey, where her parents ran a hotel, Coddington won a Vogue modeling competition at the age of 18 and spent nine years working as a fashion model. In 1968, she became a junior fashion editor at British Vogue, where she remained for 19 years until moving to New York in 1986, after Calvin Klein tapped her as the company's creative director. She didn't stay in the job for long: Two years later, when fellow Brit Anna Wintour assumed the reins at American Vogue, Coddington bade farewell to Klein and jumped to Condé Nast. Her relationship with Wintour was reportedly shaky at first, but quickly stabilized—Coddington has said "We argue like crazy, but I think she respects me, and I certainly respect her"—and in 1995 Coddington was named creative director, replacing André Leon Talley.

Of note

Among her many accomplishments, Coddington can take credit for introducing Calvin Klein to the British and Naomi Campbell to the Americans (thanks for that, Grace). As Anna Wintour's deputy (or "crown jewel" as Wintour once described her), she's intimately involved in the deciding what makes it into the world's most powerful mag. She's demonstrated enormous loyalty: In 1992, she was offered the editorship of Harper's Bazaar, but said it should go to Liz Tilberis instead.

In print

She wrote and illustrated the frothy Catwalk Cats in 2006 and published Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion in 2003.

Personal

Once married to flamboyant restaurateur Michael Chow, she's been with her current partner, hairdresser Didier Malige, for 20 years. The couple bought a two-bedroom duplex in Chelsea for $1.925 million in 2008, where they live with Coddington's three cats, Puff, Bart and Pumpkin. She takes her pets seriously: She says she tries to avoid long shoots, for fear that her housekeeper won't attend to their health.

True story

Coddington was in a serious car accident when she was in her twenties, an episode she rarely talks about. The accident sliced off her left eyelid, which required her to undergo reconstructive surgery and have skin grafted from under her arm to create a new one.