BEST DRESSED
MAURICO AND ROGER PADILHA, THAKOON PANICHGUL & JOE ZEE
Mauricio and Roger (far left and left) were 15 and 12 years old, respectively, when they saw a clip of a Stephen Sprouse fashion show on the nightly news in 1984 and became instantly transfixed. Twenty-five years later, the brothers, who have run the fashion-PR powerhouse MAO Public Relations since 1997, possess the largest private collection of work by the seminal artist and designer, and this year they published The Stephen Sprouse Book, a curated selection of images and artifacts timed to coincide with a Deitch Projects retrospective that went up in January.
At 26, Thai-born women’s wear designer Panichugul (second from right) has the ear of two of the most powerful women in fashion (perhaps the world). Anna Wintour heavily featured his reimagined white shirt collaboration with CFDA, Vogue, and the Gap in both The September Issue and her September issue. Thakoon is also heavily featured in Michelle Obama’s closet: The first lady most recently wore a floral dress from the 2010 resort collection at the otherwise bleak G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.
As creative director for Elle magazine since 2007, Zee’s byline should trail nearly every woman wearing high-waisted pants and chunky earrings (both recent trends he predicted), and Justin Timberlake, whom Zee (right) convinced to abandon street fashion for something tweedier. Though a stylist to the stars, you can experience Zee directly on MTV’s The City, a show whose high-fashion drama wouldn’t be possible if not for his foundational work.
