The once pudgy and quirky hipster, Marc Jacobs is at the very top of the fashion biz.

Jacobs was born in the city. He made his first big splash when he joined Perry Ellis as creative director in 1988. Four years later, Jacobs made waves with his legendary grunge collection, which earned horrible reviews and resulted in his dismissal (although ironically, he won the Womenswear Designer of the Year award from the CFDA that same year). Jacobs and partner Robert Duffy launched the Marc Jacobs label in 1997, but when the label struggled financially, Jacobs accepted an offer to become creative director of Louis Vuitton, a deal that also required LVMH to fund the Marc Jacobs label. He's juggled both jobs ever since, updating Vuitton's once-stodgy luggage brand via collaborations with modern artists like Takashi Murakami.

Though Jacobs' work has evolved over time, he's generally known for his clever revamps of vintage styles, and a quirky, indie-rock aesthetic that appeals to hipster celebs. Now one of the most influential brands in fashion, the Marc Jacobs brand encompasses women's and men's lines, a lower-priced Marc by Marc Jacobs, the Little Marc children's line, fragrances, and accessories, leading some to snipe that his brand is becoming as ubiquitous as Starbucks.

The designer has notoriously undergone a dramatic physical transformation: previously pale and verging on chubby, with long hair and big black-framed eyeglasses ,Jacobs is now crop-haired, skinny, and tanned, and sports contacts and Harry Winston diamond stud earrings. [Image via Getty]