Doo-Ri Chung is the creator of the Doo.Ri womenswear label and a rising star on the fashion scene.

Doo-Ri was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. with her family at the age of four, settling in Ramsey, New Jersey, where her parents operated a dry cleaning business. Her interest in design materialized early on: after high school she enrolled at Parsons where she won the school's "Designer of the Year" award during her senior year. After graduating in 1995, she took a job as an assistant menswear designer at Banana Republic; dissatisfied with life inside a big company, she lasted six months before leaving to take an apprenticeship under Geoffrey Beene. She spent six years there until 2001, when she struck out on her own. Retreating to the rent-free basement of her parents' dry cleaning operation in Paramus, she busily assembled her line of ubiquitous jersey dresses.

Chung's rags-to-riches story made her an unlikely underdog fashion hero. Her elegant designs have earned her the slavish attention of the international style press and she's been embraced by everyone from fashion editors to the likes of Tinsley Mortimer. First nominated in 2004 when the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award was established, Chung ended up losing to Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler. 2006 was a banner year for Chung: She nabbed the Swarovski/Perry Ellis award for emerging talent in June and then in November took home the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund prize, beating out Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte and Thakoon Panichgul of Thakoon. [Image via Getty]