Fashion Week: Six style icons who changed the face of fashion

Paris Fashion week is drawing to a close and it got us thinking about all things stylish.

One of the things commonly said about fashion is it repeats itself, which means if you look back in history there are certain styles which wouldn't look out of place in the shops today.

Here are six spectacular style icons who changed the face of fashion.

Katherine Hepburn

Katherine Hepburn was a movie star with a relaxed style

At a time when women were expected to dress more femininely, Katherine Hepburn wore menswear-inspired blazers, collared shirts, trousers, and loafers.

Her laidback sportswear style is still referenced every year on the catwalks and in the shops.

Her look was low-maintenance "I wear my sort of clothes to save me the trouble of deciding which clothes to wear," she once said.

David Bowie

David Bowie liked a colourful jumpsuit

David Bowie redefined fashion during the 70s and 80s. He often gets described as a chameleon - able to change personas as he changed clothes.

From kimonos, knitted unitards and his famous hairstyle (the work of Bowie's mother) he challenged gender stereotypes by wearing feminine clothes on stage.

Mary Quant

Mary Quant (pictured here in one of her designs) created a style still worn today

Mary Quant was a designer who is most famous for the looks she created in the 1960s. She was one of the first designer to use PVC, a type of shiny plastic.

She is also known for making the mini skirt and mini dress even shorter something that scandalised some people at the time.

Quant said she wanted to make her skirts short so people could run for a bus in them.

Run DMC

Run DMC are considered style icons

Run DMC (technically a group of three people not one person) were the first hip hop group to have a trainer collaboration (with Adidas in 1986).

Without intending to, Joseph 'Run' Simmons, Darryl 'D.M.C' Simmons and Jason 'Jam Master Jay' Mizell changed fashion when they insisted on wearing on stage the same clothes that they wore every day. Hip Hop fashion was raised to a new level.

Now music and fashion is even closer and stars like Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Rhianna all have their own brands.

Coco Chanel

Chanel's 2019 Spring collection referenced Coco Chanel's original designs

Designer Coco Chanel is still a major influence on fashion today through the fashion brand that bears her name.

She opened up her first clothes shop in 1910. She believed in making clothes which were comfortable for women (which amazingly was quite unusual in those days). Timeless classics she became famous for are the little black dress and the striped Breton style top.

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood is seen as fashion's rebel

British designer Vivienne Westwood is credited with bringing punk style into the mainstream in the 1970s with clothes that were sometimes ripped and put together with safety pins.

Now 78 years old Westwood is no less rebellious and has frequently brought protest to the runway using her platform to voice her opinions on things like politics and climate change.