Photography by Ryan Pfluger at the Michael Kors HQ, New York, on October 6, 2015. Groomer: Candice Forness.
"I was fortunate to be raised in a family that was very open-minded," says Michael Kors. "I was always told that I could do whatever I wanted and be whoever I chose." Overseeing a fashion brand that was among the hottest IPOs of 2011, the Long Island native has been unstoppable ever since debuting his first collection in 1981. Honored with a CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, he dominated 10 seasons of Project Runway as the sharp-tongued judge with a reputation for a killer putdown ("Amish cocktail waitress" comes to mind). But for all his chutzpah, there was one thing Kors never believed he could be: a married man. "It wasn't even something I considered a possibility," he says, recalling that fateful day of the Supreme Court ruling. "It proves that folks have really changed their perspective on things, and I think it has a lot to do with getting to know people."
