Who

Lepore is a designer of ultra-feminine clothing, fragrances and shoes.

Backstory

Growing up in an artsy, bohemian Ohio family—her dad was an abstract painter—Lepore's own creativity emerged at a young age: She was just nine when she put on her first fashion show, swathing a neighbor in a bedspread and beads underneath a handmade "Lepore" sign. She later headed off to Youngstown State University to study Spanish and social work. But Lepore quickly realized she'd be woefully overdressed for anything in the social service sector and soon escaped rural life, moving to New York City in the late '80s to enroll at FIT. Following a few short-lived gigs working at a dress company in the Garment District and as a personal assistant at a sportswear company, Lepore opened her own store in the East Village called Robespierre. She struggled at first—she earned about $100 a week the first three years the store was open, she says—until attention at a trade show resulted in a flood of orders. Unable to come up with the money to produce the garments, Lepore borrowed $5,000 from her dad to keep her atelier afloat. She's been on considerably more sold financial footing since then, and held her first Fashion Week runway show in 2000.

Of note

There are now six Nanette Lepore boutiques around the world: in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston, Tokyo, and London. Business has been booming in recent years (she now generates annual sales approaching $100 million) and her feminine styles have appeared on the backs of clothes hounds like Hilary Swank, Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Eva Longoria. Lepore is now looking beyond the clothing market: In the spring of 2007, her collection of Keds sneakers hit stores and she's designing organic rugs for Doris Leslie Blau.

Personal

Lepore married painter Robert Savage after college; he's now the president of her company. The couple has a daughter, Violet, who comes out for bows with the designer at the end of every runway show. The family lives in a 6,200-square-foot, five-bedroom West Village townhouse she purchased in 2004 for $6.4 million. They also have an oceanfront home in East Hampton.

True story

Thakoon Panichgul was once Lepore's intern.