Tom Ford stands out among other American grands couturiers in many ways. He was born in 1961 in Austin, Texas. His becoming the chief director of the Gucci high fashion house made him enormously famous within the American fashion industry. Tom Ford graduated from the Parsons School of Design in 1986. Originally, Tom Ford studied architecture. So did another famous designer Pierre Cardin. In a shot while, however, they both switched to fashion design. To Ford's first design jobs were made in collaboration with Perry Ellis and Cathy Hardwick. In 1990, Tom Ford was noticed by Gucci's creative director Dawn Mello who recruited him to design women's ready-to-wear. Soon thereafter Tom Ford was appointed the Gucci's chief director. Owing to Ford's efforts, Gucci came to the biggest power worth in the world of fashion estimating over four billion dollars. After the acquisition of the Yves Saint Laurent house, Tom Ford was appointed its creative director. However, in 2004, Tom Ford decided to step down from the fashion industry and dedicate himself to movies. Besides, regardless of his past background, he was still very fond of architecture, especially of modern architects such as the Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza.

One of American grands couturiers, Lilli Pulitzer was born in 1931 in Roslyn, New York. She was born to a socialite family, so her childhood was opulent and careless. In 1949, Lilli Pulitzer graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. She married Peter Pulitzer who was the grandson of a famous American publisher Joseph Pulitzer. She became famous as a designer after introducing her "Classic Shift Dress". Her ascension to popularity was a most interesting one. One of future American grands couturiers used to work in a juice stand. Once Lilli was squeezing juice, it splashed all over her clothes. Trying to camouflage the juice spots Lilly Pulitzer asked her dressmaker to design a sleeveless shift dress made from colorful and bright cotton. She certainly fell in love with the designed shift dress and later included it in her collections as "Classic Shift Dress". These dresses have remained quite popular for many years to come, so even Jackie Kennedy, the-then First Lady, was one of the first celebrities to wear Lilly's shift dress. She was featured in Life magazine wearing one of the classic shift Dresses by Lilli Pulitzer. Throughout the following decades, Pulitzer's colorful, bright and well-made clothing was very popular and continued to be among the high-prized items in the United States. However, in early eighties, Lilli retired and left the business. So, the clothing company was closed, too. Surprisingly, in 1993 Lilli Pulitzer revived her fashion line. Though, in fact, Lilli removed herself from this business and no longer managed the company, she has remained a creative consultant in new fabrics, designs and collections. Hardly any grand decisions are made in this company without her approval. Today Lilli Pulitzer is one of American grands couturiers.