Dana Telsey, founder, Telsey Advisory Group

"The blend of the financial and the creative is essential to grow the business. We have seen that as businesses have gotten bigger. Take a look at Coach [with Lew Frankfort and Reed Krakoff], and what Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford did to build Gucci. You need to have the right brain and left brain coming together to drive the business as a whole."

Robert Burke, founder of consulting firm Robert Burke Associates

"I don't think one can survive without the other and be truly successful. I think you need someone who can position the business and also communicate with the designers. I think that you don't want either one to have the advantage, but if they do, the name and the designer image is more impactful on a departure because of the visibility of the designer. But it seems to be a trend right now that ceo's are being recognized and written about on a much more regular basis. The role is no longer about just being a numbers person, but also about having a vision for the business and making sure that vision is communicated and realized. The role of the ceo is becoming more creative and the best ceo's are ones who understand the design process and know how to support the designers, but also push the business."

Joseph Velosa, co-founder of the Matthew Williamson business

"I can only really speak from our experience, but I don't think one can exist without the other. It's a 50-50 relationship. We each do our separate jobs, but there is a huge amount of gray area and crossover, and there has to be a mutual respect and understanding. At the end of the day, though, you can't have a design business without a designer, and without the product, you have nothing. The ceo has to respect that."

Velosa said, however, that when a brand name becomes bigger than the designer's personality, that's a different scenario. "There comes a tipping point when the brand is established and entrenched and can carry on, like with YSL, which dipped and then had a revival, or Valentino, where the passing of the reins was straightforward."