14 Designers Who Never Got Fashion Degrees

French fashion designer Coco Chanel left school at 18, never seeking to return to higher education. The designer, who spent her teen years in a convent, was taught to sew by the nuns who raised her. Using this skill, Chanel became a seamstress and then a licenced milliner in 1910, and with her hats gaining popularity, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's career was launched. 

Karl Lagerfeld—who until his death had designed for Fendi for over 50 years and Chanel since 1983—is often praised as one of the most visionary fashion designers of his time, however, it may shock many to hear that the design genius never attended fashion school. After leaving home at 14 years old, Lagerfeld was living in Paris when he entered a coat design competition sponsored by the International Wool Secretariat, where, following his win, he was hired by Pierre Balmain as a junior assistant and later as an apprentice for three years. While Lagerfeld ended up attending a university in Rome to study art history, he never underwent official studies in fashion, as he learned from the greats instead. 

Miuccia Prada, the current head designer of Prada and founder of its subsidiary Miu Miu, is the granddaughter of Mario Prada. At the time Miuccia took over the company in 1978, she impressively held a PhD in political science from the University of Milan as well as training from the Teatro Piccolo to become a mime. Despite her lack of formal design education, Miuccia took over her family’s small leather goods business and brought the company to its status as one of the world’s most sought-after luxury brands. 

Italian fashion designer and current Chief Creative Officer of Versace, Donatella Versace originally studied literature and languages in Florence, Italy, before becoming the world-renowned designer she is today. Working closely with her brother and founder of the brand, Gianni Versace, she originally joined the  business within the public relations department, however, she was more valuable to him as a “muse and critic.” Following Gianni’s death, Donatella took over, and one year following his passing hosted her first Haute Couture show for Atelier Versace. 

Manolo Blahnik originally studied law, languages, and art in Geneva and Paris before starting his London boutique in 1973. The Spanish shoe designer has stated that he was immediately disinterested in studying law, and after studying literature as an alternative, decided designing was what he gravitated towards. Blahnik said that it took 10 years for him to learn the craft and that the majority of what he learned was in the factories. 

Pierre Cardin's space-age designs are often described as architectural, so it makes sense that before launching his own fashion house he studied architecture. When he moved to Paris in 1945 for his studies, he also began working for the couturier Paquin. Carin also came to work with Elsa Schiaparelli and the house of Dior, before launching his own maison in 1950.

Giorgio Armani aspired to have a career in medicine in his youth. Armani then followed this dream to the Department of Medicine at the University of Milan, where he remained for three years before joining the army. However, following his experiences in the army, Armani found himself working as a window dresser at La Rinascente, a department store in Milan in 1957. This took him to explore fashion marketing menswear, and he started working for Nino Cerutti and freelance for various other notable brands, before deciding to open his own label.

While growing up in a Paris suburb, Jean Paul Gaultier began to send sketches to famous couture stylists at a young age. Despite not having any formal training as a designer, Pierre Cardin was impressed by the young Gaultier and hired him as an assistant in 1970. Following working for Cardin, the designer launched his first individual collection in 1976.

Nicolas Ghesquière, former creative director of Balenciaga and current artistic director of Louis Vuitton, is frequently praised for his originality in design. While he initially had plans to go to fashion school, following almost a decade of creating a portfolio of dresses that he sketched in school books and made out of his mother’s curtains, Ghesquière decided to go another route when a more enriching opportunity arose. Ghesquière was offered the role of assistant to Jean Paul Gaultier and ended up working for the designer from 1990 to 1992 before landing a job at Balenciaga.  

Despite taking a jewelry and silversmith course at the University of Westminster, Vivienne Westwood left after one term stating that she did not think there was space for working-class girls like her in the art world. Little did she know she would become one of Britain's most celebrated designers, often praised for bringing modern punk and new wave into mainstream fashion. After first taking a job in a factory and studying at a teacher-training college, Westwood became a primary school teacher, creating her own jewelry as a hobby and selling them on Portobello Road. She then began sewing clothes with her partner Malcolm McLaren, and opened the famed King’s Road flagship in the ‘70s, which was known as Sex at the time.

Manfred Thierry Mugler became known for his camp, avant-garde creations in the '80s and '90s. Before then, however, he studied interior design at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts. In his 20s, he moved to Paris and began to design for the boutique Gudule and freelance for various fashion houses. He debuted his first collection in 1973.

Fashion powerhouse Vera Wang, renowned for her bridal wear, unconventionally made her way into the fashion industry in the 1960s. Throughout her life, Wang had dedicated herself to figure skating, starting at the age of eight and competing at the national championship level throughout high school, even being featured in Sports Illustrated in 1968. However, when Wang failed to make the U.S. Olympic Team, she decided to enter the fashion industry. With a bachelor's degree in art history after attending the University of Paris and Sarah Lawrence, Wang became an editor at Vogue, the youngest fashion editor ever in 1972,  and remained at the magazine for 17 years, before leaving to join Ralph Lauren in 1987. Two years later, at 40 years old, Wang was planning her wedding to Arthur Beck when she saw a lack of wedding gowns for mature brides, prompting Wang to start her independent bridalwear brand. 

The current co-creative director of Prada and his own eponymous brand, Raf Simons surrounded himself with other creatives and thinkers as he studied industrial and furniture design in Belgium. His work as a furniture designer led him to cross paths with people in the fashion world, and he interned for Walter Van Beirendonck. After Van Beirendonck took Simons to Paris Fashion Week, Simons decided to pivot towards fashion. He trained himself how to sew and tailor menswear and launched his label in 1995.

Virgil Abloh does not have the typical pre-fashion stardom background in the arts as the other designers on this list. A trained architect, earning his master's degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, on top of his Bachelor in Science degree in civil engineering, Abloh entered the fashion scene prominently in 2009 with an internship at Fendi alongside Kayne West. The collaboration between the two then launched Abloh’s career with the founding of widely popular Off-White before he was named men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton.