Tastemakers: Derek Lam, Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann, and Chris Salgardo

Out's November issue showcases our annual Tastemakers portfolio, which highlights the hippest arbiters of style currently leading the charge at the forefront of the nation's ongoing cultural revolution.

From fashion phenoms to chic restaurateurs to dance company directors, these men's impeccable taste and sensibility make our lives simpler, prettier, happier, and richer. Today's featured tastemakers are Derek Lam, Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann, and Chris Salgardo.

Before going out on his own, Parsons graduate Derek Lam spent 12 years working under Michael Kors, learning how to make inventive sportswear. In 2002 he left Kors to begin his own fashion company with his business partner, Jan-Hendrik Schlottmann, debuting his eponymous line the following year at New York Fashion Week. Soon his dresses were in Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman. His star has been on the rise ever since -- he's a favored designer of Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, and he won the Perry Ellis award for most promising emerging designer from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2005. Schlottmann, who is also Lam's partner in life, has been busy turning the company from a one-line shop into a brand that includes jewelry, shoes, and accessories.

Lam has teamed with Kiehl's cosmetics to design a limited-edition travel kit. As president of Kiehl's USA since 2005, Chris Salgardo is in charge of steering the cosmetics company (which began in New York's East Village in 1851 and is now distributed internationally, with stores in 23 cities nationwide) into new territory and partnerships. Explains Salgardo of the decision to collaborate with Lam, "Derek's collections speak to the customer who loves the city, loves to travel, loves the finer things in life."

-- CHRIS ROVZAR