Zac Posen

Zachary E. Posen raised in the SoHo district of New York City. His parents were painter Stephen Posen and lawyer Susan Posen. Growing up, the youngster showed an early affinity for fashion and was surrounded by equally creative types, including childhood friends that included actress Claire Danes and Lola Schnabel, the daughter of renowned artist Julian Schnabel. The future fashion star attended Brooklyn private school Saint Ann's and interned for designer Nicole Miller during his sophomore year. At age 16, Posen enrolled at Parsons New School for Design's pre-college program. Two years later, he was accepted into the prestigious Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in London. One of Posen's earliest creations as a fashion student - a gown constructed from strips of leather - was actually displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 2000, Posen made his mark in the fashion world after he created a gown for supermodel Naomi Campbell; a dress that became quite in-demand overnight by socialites and fashion-forward women all over the world.Posen moved back to New York City after graduating from Central Saint Martins and set up a workshop at his family's home. Fashion even became a family business after Posen's mother quit practicing law to manage her son's career. He held his first runway show in 2001, which caught the attention of several industry executives, including representatives from LVMH Fashion Goods, Christian Dior S.A., and Gucci Group. Posen eventually moved his workspace out of his parents' home and into a Tribeca studio, where he developed his signature style of structured pieces juxtaposed with ultra-feminine details. It was not long before Posen started earning accolades from the fashion world such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Swarovski's Perry Ellis Award for Womenswear in 2004. That same year, hit-making artist and music mogul Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs invested in Posen's clothing line, which further boosted the budding designers' profile.With Hollywood now taking notice of Posen's work, he was soon designing for high-profile names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Natalie Portman and longtime friend Claire Danes. Highly respected in the luxury retail world, Posen also decided to reach out to a broader audience by launching a capsule line in 2008 for popular retailer Target as well as the lower-priced Z Spoke collection for Saks Fifth Avenue. In a successful effort to expand his fashion empire, Posen became a media fixture, from appearing in the documentary feature "Seamless" as one of the young designers profiled, to cameos on ABC's award-winning comedy "Ugly Betty" (ABC, 2006-2010) and reality series "America's Next Top Model" (The CW, 2006-). His knowledge not only of fashion design, but also of building a business from the ground up, made Posen the perfect replacement for departing judge Michael Kors on the long-running reality series "Project Runway." He joined the cast in 2013 and sat alongside fellow judges supermodel Heidi Klum and fashion editor Nina Garcia. As the newest judge on the reality series, Posen offered the contestants his sharp eye, often dishing out criticism that focused on a dress or an outfit's construction and craft.By Candy Cuenco