Style Action: December 2005

THE LIST OF INFLUENCE

ARTHUR RYAN, chairman and managing director of Primark, tops the 2005 list of the 100 most influential people in high street fashion in Drapers this week. " Ryan is no marketing guru, but he knows his product," says the trade magazine. "He has drilled his lean mean buying machine so well that Primark – which trades as Penneys in the Republic of Ireland – recently estimated that in July alone the editorial coverage its product gained in fashion magazines would have cost the business £2 million if it were advertising space." Philip Green was pipped to the number two spot by Stuart Rose, taking third place ahead of New Look chief exec Phil Wrigley, TopShop brand director Jane Shepherdson, Tesco buying director Julia Reynolds and Richard Bradbury, managing director of River Island, in tenth place. Kate Moss bought some glamour to the proceedings, taking the 12th spot. "Despite having suffered the worst few months of anyone in our Top 100, La Moss has risen high this year," we're told. "It began with ripening a few trends – skinny jeans, city shorts and waistcoats." Sienna Miller's shirking of her famed boho style put her in 17th place, while Roland Mouret's Galaxy dress put him at number 19, Hedi Slimane came in at 24, Nicolas Ghesquiere at 36, Christopher Bailey at 44, Phoebe Philo at 46 and Suzanne Tide-Frater at 47. Franz Ferdinand, Daniela Issa Helayel, Gwen Stefani, Twiggy, Trinny & Susannah, Ant & Dec and Miuccia Prada all put in an appearance on a list heavy with high flying businessmen and women and the weather was also cited as a major influence this year, coming in at number 50. "Some of the UK's climate's extremes have not helped retailers this year," we're told. "For example in May when clothing chiefs were hoping for a heatwave, it was the coldest for almost 10 years. And in September when they yearned for an early frost, parts of England and Wales experienced the warmest October since 1914."