The 15 richest people in the fashion industry This year Giorgio Armani fell to fourteenth place

Zoology uses the term "alpha predator" to describe animals at the top of the food chain. The fashion industry, when regarded as an ecosystem of its own (a 2.5 trillion dollar ecosystem), also owns its own food chain, and the 15 people at the top of the chain own a combined wealth of more than 410 billion dollars.

The ranking of the 15 richest individuals in the fashion industry that you can read by scrolling through the gallery below has been compiled from Forbes' Real Time Billionaires index. The list includes entrepreneurs, CEOs, heiresses and designers who, either by creating empires in the world of luxury fashion, or setting up titanic fast fashion chains, have amassed assets that go beyond imagination.

15. Chip Wilson (6,1 USD billions)

Arnault's empire is based on more than 70 brands (including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moet-Hennesy and Sephora) that are part of the LVMH conglomerate. The starting point for building what has now become LVMH was his father's construction company, from which Arnault made the 15 million dollars he used to buy Dior in 1985. Even today LVMH is a family business (at least in its upper echelons) with four of Arnault's five children working in various departments of the company.