Betsey Johnson was always cool. All the It-girls of the mid-1960s sported her clothes: Twiggy draped them across her bony shoulders, while Julie Christie, Brigitte Bardot, and Raquel Welch filled the flashy duds out. Johnson designed for the definitive '60s boutique Paraphernalia, recruiting as her m

Cartoonish, Ebullient, Kaleidoscopic, Perverse, Playful, Polychromatic, Sexy, Urban, Urban chic, Vibrant color, Wise assy, Witty

According to Randall Rothenberg, "Most great design, the sort that helps define or even fashion an era, derives from a particular vision. For this reason, most great design firms tend to die with their founders or evolve into corporate entities more skilled at making money than actually reshaping the

Funny, Playful, Witty

Never one to downplay his own achievements, Wolfgang Weingart explains why he has shifted his emphasis from design to teaching: "I had to stop in order to let the things that I produced sink in, and wait until the next, real explosion comes, so that designers in the new decade can copy me again." Lab

Chance, Collage, Layered, Playful, Postmodernism, Whimsical

A portrait of Tibor Kalman's middle-aged face almost passes as commonplace: a receding hairline, squinting eyes, and a toothy, sincere smile. Kalman's design career, however, has questioned all boundaries and expectations set by the ordinary. Born in Budapest in 1949, Kalman was educated in journa

Huge, In-your-face, Overflowing, Playful, Postmodernism, Rebel, Wise assy