Zac Posen, The New Patron Saint Of Model Diversity

Model-turned-agent — and, all the while, activist — Bethann Hardison singled out Zac Posen as a fashion helmsman who embraces a broad definition of beauty, carrying the torch Yves Saint Laurent lit decades ago. "He's like the old-school designers in that he believes in the model," she told Vogue.com, in a sit-down interview ahead of receiving the CFDA Founders Award in June. "He will take a girl who hasn't been hot in over two years and he'll bring her back. You can tell that this is his idea and not the casting director's."

Hardison isn't the only one to laud Posen's efforts. In its semi-annual New York Fashion Week diversity reports, Jezebel regularly cites Posen as bucking the white-washed norm; however, Hardison's comments don't relate to only racial diversity. For his 2014 resort lookbook, Posen cast 60-something legend Pat Cleveland alongside her daughter, Anna. "It was a magic moment," he remarked to Fashionista. "It felt so iconic. I felt like we were expanding for the public the age range of how fashion is shown today." And, together we say: Amen.