Michael Kors — fashion with roots in the Russian Empire
Michael Kors is an American fashion designer who built the Michael Kors brand into a global luxury empire worth over $10 billion. Known for his signature accessible luxury aesthetic — handbags, watches, and ready-to-wear — he has been one of American fashion's dominant commercial forces for four decades, and serves as a judge on Project Runway.
Tracing the roots — Austria / Russia
His mother Joan Hamburger has Austrian and Russian-Jewish ancestry — her family from the Eastern European Jewish communities of the Habsburg and Russian empires. Kors grew up in a Jewish household on Long Island and has spoken about his family's immigrant background and the work ethic it instilled.
.svg?width=900)
Austria / Russia. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.