Akira Isogawa spring 2014 collection. INFLUENTIAL website Business of Fashion has just launched a new initiative, the BOF500 - an aggregation of 500 of the world's most influential fashion people, from designers to chief executives, retailers to make-up artists and beyond. Featured in the 500 (which takes no particular order and is the result of industry consultation and aggregation of social media statistics) are seven Australians and one New Zealander. Dion Lee is the only Australian designer on the list, which denotes him as Australia's "most promising fashion talent." New Zealand's Karen Walker is the only other designer from the region included. Other Australians to rate a mention are David Briskin, chief executive of sass & bide, entrepreneur Simon Lock, founder of Australian Fashion Week, Peter and Steven Lowy, co-chief executives of Westfield, and Chris Kyvetos, whose company Sneakerboy is lauded for its retail model that "blends the tactility of a physical store with the efficiency and freshness of the internet." Model Miranda Kerr also rates a mention, although her bio needs an update, as she's still credited as being the face of David Jones, a title more recently bestowed on Jessica Gomes. Artisan lights up Akira's world WHILE Collette Dinnigan and Kym Ellery hit the Paris Fashion Week catwalks in the past week, quiet achiever Akira Isogawa was also in the City of Lights with his sales showroom. Working with a new fabric artisan, who hand-dyes fabrics, Isogawa made this his starting point for the collection. "I was very inspired by the skill that he can offer," said Isogawa from Paris. What really pleased me with this collection is the dress which is heavily inspired by the kimono with pink, green and blue background hand-painted with batik techniques and butterfly motifs (pictured). I'm so happy with the quality we've achieved by hand. Isogawa, who this year celebrates 20 years since the opening of his Woollahra, Sydney, store, also has all appetites of his clientele at heart. This collection appears very fluid and forgiving rather than being mean. I think it's important that the women we dress feel they can eat a proper meal three times a day," he says with a giggle. I remember when I started being 26 years old and also the friends I had, the circles I belonged to, we were all in our 20s and were willing to be victims and suffer for style. But we've been through that and come out the other side. Rather than world domination, Isogawa is more interested in looking after his existing 25 stockists - perhaps not a huge number, but one he's happy with. "I just don't feel that I want to actually project myself or the brand to be that huge," he says. Because of the nature of design that we offer and the way my company is structured, it's not geared up for large production. So I'd rather have a tight number of clients and then we deliver, we service by delivering on time and without any return of goods. The quality shouldn't suffer because of being too ambitious. As to any celebrations for this current milestone, Isogawa is typically understated. We are going to have a little Christmas party with staff, maybe a barbecue at our studio. Some of my staff have been working with me for 20 years, so it's nice to celebrate the fact we've been together for so long.