Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore picks the top 30 women who possess the strength, smarts, poise, and beauty to stand tall in a man’s world. In a time when change is but the only constant, these titans are the ones making all the difference.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/gallery/power-list-30-influential-women-know-now/
The Power List: 30 Of The Most Influential Women You Should Know Now
HILARY RODHAM CLINTON
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Politician, 68
Redefining politics in the Land of the Free, Hillary Rodham Clinton went from F.L.O.T.U.S. (First Lady of the United States) to possible Commander-in-Chief when she announced her intention to run for presidency back in 2015. Fearless in her pursuit of equality, the Democrat broke gender rules and shook up the ivory tower world of America’s male-dominated government. She is challenging the very foundations of the American economy through her radical campaigns to raise middle class incomes.
PEERS: Michelle Obama
ZAHA HADID
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Architect, 1950—2016
The Iraqi-born British Hadid was world renowned for her highly expressive structures. Bold, enormously talented and fearlessly controversial, she blazed her way through the male dominated society she was born into and her chosen profession, to become one of the most regarded visionaries of her time—picking up monikers and honours like Queen of the Curve and Dame Zaha along the way. Hadid infused her designs with a sense of liberation similar to the one she strongly propogated in life. The indelible mark she left on the world can be seen in some of the most iconic structures in the world including London’s 2012 Olympics Aquatic Center and the critically acclaimed 2022 FIFA World Cup stadium in Qatar.
PEERS: Jeanne Gang, Kazuyo Sejima, Sheila Sri Prakash
REI KAWAKUBO
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Fashion designer and founder of Comme des Garçons, 73
Kawakubo occupies a reverential spot in fashion. Admired by the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Ghesquière, Phoebe Philo and Marc Jacobs, the Japanese designer is a fearless trailblazer who not only revolutionised fashion with her radical aesthetic, but also altered the retail landscape with the game-changing Dover Street Market. Despite her tough demeanour, Kawakubo firmly believes in nurturing talents, and she’s credited with playing a part in kick-starting the careers of Junya Watanabe and Sacai’s Chitose Abe.
MIUCCIA PRADA
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Fashion designer, 67
Dubbed the thinking designer’s designer, Prada intellectualises her collections with varying degrees of subtext underneath all those pretty layers of cloth and embellishments. In doing so, she’s spearheaded an ongoing discourse that dissects the role garments play in a woman’s life. Through her works, Prada is also challenging the status quo of what beauty truly is; that pretty can manifest in all shapes, guises and forms.
PEERS: Donatella Versace and Diane von Furstenberg
GISELE BÜNDCHEN
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Supermodel, 35
With her ample curves and sun-kissed skin, Bündchen first attained commercial success with her stint as a Victoria’s Secrets angel. Bündchen’s appearances in blockbusters like Taxi and The Devil Wears Prada then sealed her status as a household name. When the leggy Brazilian bombshell is not busy holding the title as the highest paid supermodel in the world, she’s actively helping to conserve rainforests today, having joined the board of directors at Rainforest Alliance in 2014.
PEERS: Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio and Natalia Vodianova
KENDALL JENNER
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League Of Their Own
Model, TV Personality, 20
Kendall Jenner has proven that having good looks and a red-hot family name are vital ingredients for success. Within a short time, she has conquered the runways and landed lucrative contracts with brands such as Estée Lauder and Calvin Klein Underwear. Brands aren’t hesitant in engaging Jenner for work. With Kanye West as her brother-in-law, celebrity friends, and her family ruling the media, who would be?
PEERS: Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevigne
VICTORIA BECKHAM
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Pop star-turned-fashion designer, 42. Beckham has carved out a career as a reputable designer since trading her WAG tag and microphone for the drawing blocks. She also heads the Beckham clan as its stylish matriarch, doing it all without missing a step—in sky-high stilettos, no less. PEERS: Stella McCartney, Tory Burch, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
NAOMI CAMPBELL
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Supermodel, 46
Easily one of the most recognised faces in the world, the Jamaican-English model remains an inspiration for many models with her outspokenness about racial discrimination in the modelling industry and has won many international accolades for her charitable efforts. Be it the runway or community service, if anyone knows how to make a grand entrance and a memorable exit, it’s her—gorgeous, fiery and ever a supermodel.
PEERS: Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and Elle Macpherson
CHRISTINA ONG
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Fashion entrepreneur and luxury hotelier, 68
Ong is probably best-known for founding Club 21, now synonymous with managing top designer brands like Balenciaga, Marni, Dries Van Noten and Lanvin in Singapore as well as around the region. In 2000, she also acquired a stake in British label Mulberry and turned it into a successful, luxury brand. In addition, she also oversees high-end Como Hotels and Resorts, which owns properties in London, Maldives, Bhutan and Turks and Caicos that are catered to the well-heeled and the discerning. Today, she continues to grow and expand Como Shambhala, the holistic wellness brand of lifestyle products like massage oils, hair and body care, and yoga wear and travel products.
PEERS: Jennifer Woo, Joyce Ma and Joan Burstein
GLORIA STEINEM
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Journalist and feminist, 82
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that feminism as we know it might not exist without Gloria Steinem. The journalist, who co-founded New York magazine and the feminist magazine Ms., has been an outspoken advocate for the movement since the ’60s—from going undercover as a Playboy Bunny for an exposé, to organising rallies worldwide at age 82, Steinem’s voice continues to resonate; hear it loud and clear in her 2015 tome, On the Road.
PEERS: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Germaine Greer
J.K. ROWLING
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Author, 50
It took a fictional boy wizard to magically transform the life of J.K. Rowling. Once living on welfare, Rowling famously conceived the world of Harry Potter while on a train ride from Manchester to London. Seven books later, plus a successful movie franchise that grossed more than $10 billion in ticket sales, Rowling is this millennium’s most prolific author and literary inspiration. Rowling’s powerful words aren’t limited to her books—she is known to actively use her Twitter account to voice her views on current affairs and champion meaningful causes.
LOOK OUT FOR: Stephenie Meyer, Suzanna Collins and E.L. James
CINDY SHERMAN
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Photographer, 62
The inimitable photographer first came to fame in the late ’70s with her “Untitled Film Stills,” a series of black-and-white photos which drew parallels with old Italian and American films of the ’40s through ’60s. She was also a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, a prize awarded annually to extraordinary individuals to support their creative pursuits. Today, she’s one of the highest paid and most influential photographers.
PEERS: Tracy Emin and Marina Abramoviæ
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
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Photographer, 66
Looking at Leibovitz’s photographs is like looking at a painting. Her portraitures are quirky mise-en-scènes of beautiful, powerful and real people at their candid best. Multi-coloured, to say the least, her career has been tinged with many a memorable shot—from a camouflaged Keith Haring, to a very pregnant Demi Moore, to profound portrayals of war and women. Cutting a dynamic figure at 1.82m and in her, now signature, all-black ensemble, Leibovitz has had some of the world’s most influential figures twirled around her lens cap. Besides, she has had more men readily take off their clothes for her than any woman can boast of.
PEERS: Maya Goded, Jill Greenberg and Shirin Neshat
EMILY WEISS
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Beauty mogul, 30
In 2010, the New York-based entrepreneur started Into The Gloss, a beauty blog that brought a fresh editorial edge to the beauty end of the Internet. Fast forward six years, and Weiss is now a beauty mogul overseeing a website that is sparking conversations online about beauty issues close to women’s hearts, as well as Glossier, a beauty brand for millennials that is best known for its fuss-free, multi-use products.
PEERS: Charlotte Tilbury
PAT MCGRATH
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League Of Their Own
Celebrity makeup artist, 46
McGrath is often credited for creating some of the most iconic beauty looks in fashion magazines and the runways. From minimal looks to dramatically embellished miens, her ability to turn bare faces into a work of art has even convinced Queen Elizabeth II to put McGrath on the Members of the Order of The British Empire for her contributions to fashion and beauty in 2013.When she’s not drawing the perfect eyebrow arch on models backstage, she is the Global Beauty Creative Design Director of Procter & Gamble, as well as the creative vision behind Pat McGrath Labs.
PEERS: Lisa Eldridge and Gucci Westman
SHANNON WILSON
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Founder and Creative Director of Kit & Ace, former head designer of Lululemon Athletica, 41
Wilson left her role as head of design team at Lululemon Athletica to focus on her newfound venture, Kit & Ace. Selling well-made yoga gear to women all over the world has made Wilson one of the richest women in Canada, but building billions in wealth means nothing if no good is done with it. Together with her husband, Chip (he’s the brain behind Lululemon), they built The Chip & Shannon Wilson School of Design in 2013. The to enrol students to hone their design skills with modern studios and gallery spaces on campus for their curriculum.
PEERS: Sarah Blakely
CLAIRE CHIANG
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Co-founder, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, 65
Chiang went from living in a shophouse to luxuriating in villas all over the world—and pioneered the group’s retail business as well. But before all this, the social activist authored the book, “Stepping Out: The Making of Chinese Entrepreneurs” in 1993 and has since achieved countless awards for business and social advocacy, having championed women’s equality issues in the work place. The mother of three chairs the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund and National Book Development Council of Singapore, too, showing that a woman can have it all.
PEERS: Fang Ai Lian, Jennie Chua, Olivia Lum
SERENA WILLIAMS
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Tennis player, 34
When she’s not slaying on the court, she’s smashing gender and racial vitriol. The world’s highest paid female athlete fights just as hard for equality, most recently seen firing serves at a sexist heckler (in a padded suit) in a video against sexism. Her activist ways extend to partnering non-profit organisations like the Equal Justice Initiative and Elton John AIDS Foundation, and as an International Goodwill Ambassador with UNICEP since 2011.
PEERS: Danica Patrick, Lydia Ko, Ronda Rousey
BEYONCÉ KNOWLES-CARTER
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Singer, 34
Well, they didn’t call her Destiny’s Child for a reason. If the name of Beyoncé’s previous girl group was any indication of her prophetic solo success, then surely the impressive swarm of 73.7 million (and counting) ardent bees from her Instagram fan club, the Beehive, should tell you of her greatness. Often tackling issues surrounding race, gender and empowerment through song and dance, Queen B’s chart toppers hold a mirror up to society.
PEERS: Lady Gaga, Adele and Rihanna
MADONNA
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Pop star, 57
When it comes to music, no one is as divisive as Madonna. But if there’s one thing her critics and fans can all agree on, it’s that she is the undisputed Queen of Pop. With more than 300 million albums sold, she is also the “best-selling female recording artiste of all time” and the highest grossing solo tour artist of all time having raked up a whopping US$1.31 billion since 1990. And she’s achieved all this by boldly mixing powerful musical artistry with provocative imagery. At times controversial, but always irreverent, there’s really no other Material Girl like Madonna.
PEERS: None. Enough said.
TAYLOR SWIFT
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Singer-songwriter, 26
An all-American charm, catchy tunes and lyrics that go straight to the heart—Swift achieved unwavering global success with these traits backing her 1.78m frame. Further proof that this starlet’s influence on the world is real? Aside from her 83.2 million Instagram followers, her open letter to Apple addressing compensation and copyright issues on its streaming platform Apple Music saw the tech giant take corrective action almost immediately. Plus, her #squad of BBFs reads like a who’s who of the industry: Zendaya, Lily Aldridge and Karlie Kloss are on her speed dial. Besides, her latest paramour’s Tom Hiddleston.
PEERS: Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande
ELLEN DEGENERES
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Comedian and TV host, 58
The course of the award-winning comedienne-turned-producer’s career has seen her bag 13 Emmy Awards and 14 People’s Choice Awards—thanks to her star-studded hit daytime TV show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres’ success has also placed her among one of the highest paid entertainers today. Like us, she loves going on YouTube. But where we see entertainment, the media mogul sees opportunities, having launched the careers of young talents with her own record label eleveneleven.
PEERS: Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart
EMMA WATSON
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Actress, 26
Hermione Granger would be so proud. Instead of crashing and burning like so many child stars before her, Watson blossomed into an A-lister, Brown University graduate and UN Women Goodwill ambassador. Her impassioned #HeforShe speech logged over one billion social media impressions and made the gender equality campaign relevant to an entire generation who grew up watching her on the big screen. We can’t wait to see where she takes the role of Belle in next year’s Beauty and the Beast.
PEERS: Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer
KARDASHIAN-JENNERS
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Reality TV family
A cultural zeitgeist, very little needs to be said about reality television’s royal family. From startling revelations to breaking the Internet with their antics, the Kardashian-Jenners are no strangers to controversy. Ruling popular culture and the goggle box’s primetime slot with an iron fist, they never fail to provoke. The klan has amassed millions of dollars through a wide array of businesses – Kim’s game app alone raked $85 million in 2014, while Kylie’s cosmetic business has allowed her to own a $6 million mansion on her own. Be it a grand wedding or a designer sock line, it’s true what they say: It’s hard not to keep up with the Kardashians.
PEERS: The Smiths and the Hadids
ANGELINA JOLIE-PITT
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Actress, 41
One half of Hollywood’s ultimate power couple, the beautiful actress went from tabloid fodder to a humanitarian the world just can’t get enough of. The Global Humanitarian Award-holder created a stir when she underwent a preventive double mastectomy, along the way opening up another debate on breast cancer prevention. Ever the people’s actress, the Academy Award winner with a net worth of $145 million was even spotted travelling in coach on an Air France flight with her beautiful brood.
PEERS: Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba
CHIARA FERRAGNI
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Social media star, 29
With an Instagram follower count numbering 6.1 million, there is no doubt that Chiara Ferragni of the The Blonde Salad is tops when it comes to the world of fashion blogging. But she is so much more than a pretty face. The Italian powerhouse has turned her online personal brand into a physical line of witty accessories that are as instantly recognisable as herself.
PEERS: Nicole Warne (@garypeppergirl), Kristina Bazan (@kristinabazan), Jessica Stein (@tuulavintage)
EVA CHEN
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Head of Fashion Partnerships, Instagram, 35
The energetic New Yorker was the talk of the town when she was hand-picked by Anna Wintour to helm Lucky magazine. But it was her style, digital savvy and innovative voice that catapulted her to social media stardom—and landed her at Instagram as head of fashion partnerships. Also an independent director of the Yoox Net-a-Porter group, she still manages to trend and engage with her followers daily, and spend quality time with her baby girl Ren.
PEERS: Yasmin Sewell, Leandra Medine
NATALIE MASSENET
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Ex-founder, Net-A-Porter, 51
Consider Massenet as the ultimate disruptor who single-handedly redefined the way the world shops. In 2000, when she was an out-of-work fashion journalist, Massenet founded luxury e-commerce website, Net-A-Porter (worth GBP350 million) from her kitchen. The mother of two has since left the company in the hands of the Yoox group, but her schedule remains packed. As the British Fashion Council’s chairwoman and one of the most well-connected businesswomen, she recently hosted the ultimate power party attended by fashion insiders and society stalwarts, to raise funds and support for her friend and American presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.
PEERS: Lauren Santo Domingo, Sophia Amoruso, Deena Varshavskaya
SHERYL SANDBERG
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CEO, Facebook, 46
Sheryl Sandberg is a numbers girl. She is the CEO of the fifth most valuable brand in the world; has been named one of the most powerful women in technology for the fifth consecutive year; is ranked seventh in the world’s power players list; and has helped Facebook rake in 66 percent profit since she joined. Lean In, to the call of power.
PEERS: Melinda Gates, Christine Lagarde, Marissa Mayer and Susan Wojcicki
CATHERINE, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE
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Royal, 34
No one in recent memory has captured the hearts (and eyes) of the world with such veracity than Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. The mother of two is a trend-setting fashion icon who is famous for her beautiful brunette curls and penchant for mixing high fashion with high street. And talk about using her power for good: With her tireless commitment to charity work, she is certainly living up to her mother-in-law’s epithet of being the People’s Princess.
PEERS: Princess Sofia of Sweden and Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
TSAI ING-WEN
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President, Republic of China, 59
Tsai is no stranger to breaking down barriers. Taiwan’s first female President was sworn into office in May 2016, after leading the Democratic Progressive Party to a landslide victory at the presidential elections, ending the Kuomintang’s 70-plus year run. The 59-year-old former law professor’s mixed ethnicity—her father is of Hakka heritage and her mother is Taiwanese—has been credited in helping her garner the support of voters, and she has voiced her support for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.
PEERS: Aung San Suu Kyi, Angela Merkel and Park Geun-hye
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