Who is THE American Designer?

I have a good knock knock joke.  "Knock, Knock. Who's there? American designer. American designer who? Exactly." Well, I said it was good and not necessarily funny.  Who is THE American designer? I must say that the old guard is still running the show so to speak. Lauren, Von Furstenburg, Hilfiger, Ellis, Klein, De La Renta. But where is the new guard?  Has anyone been able to hold a scepter to these veterans?  A few shine through in my opinion.  And by that, I mean that these are designers who maintain the illusion that we as ordinary "Joe Shmo's " can afford and look good in these masterpieces- There is no room for "elitist" fashion in this economy.   Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors are my favorites, because they have the audacity to design clothes for the ordinary person that looks as if you could walk the red carpet full stop.  Vera Wang always hits a home run with her simplistic yet elegant designs that go beyond wedding gowns; personally, I am glad that she "branched out" because I was a little salty about weddings (I am selling my wedding gown on Ebay soon).  Tom Ford is like the Prince of all that he surveys (with his drop dead gorgeous ass)! He has now flown the coop and ventured into film - which isn't all that far fetched, due to his amazing eye for the dramatic.  I think that many designers loose sight of what is "fashionable" and cater way to much to the Hollywood/society elite.  Designers should realize that ordinary folks like the fantasy of Hollywood, and not necessarily the celebrities who wear the clothes.  Hey, I want like the glamour of Diana Ross...I don't want to BE Diana Ross! Give me the fantasy on a plate that says "Here, common person, you can have this." Maybe there isn't just one who leads the pack.  Maybe they are all struggling to get ahead just like the rest of us.