Michael Kors handbags are flying off the shelves — and its namesake designer’s net worth is flying off the charts.
The baby-faced fashion mogul beefed up his billionaire status Tuesday, with shares of his fast-growing firm surging 17 percent on a surprisingly strong quarterly earnings report.
The former Project Runway TV star’s personal stake hit an all-time high Tuesday, valued at as much as $400 million as the shares reached an intraday peak of $93.18 before settling at $89.91.
Added to the $700 million that 54-year-old Kors has amassed by steadily selling stock since his company went public in December 2011, the designer’s net worth is now close to $1.1 billion, securities filings show.
Ralph Lauren and Tory Burch are the only other US designers whose net worth is $1 billion or higher.
Kors first became a billionaire club member on paper last fall as the company’s shares climbed toward the $85 mark — but lost his ranking as shares slipped.
They hit an all-time intra-day high on Tuesday.
Lauren’s fortune is pegged at $6.6 billion, according to Bloomberg, after decades at the helm of his own global clothing empire.
Tory Burch, meanwhile, broke into the billionaire’s club 13 months ago, in January 2013, when the 47-year-old’s namesake company, of which she owns nearly a third, was valued at $3.3 billion in a stock sale by her ex-husband.
Fashion insiders credit Kors for working doggedly to build a global brand that has capitalized on the “affordable luxury” segment of retail, cranking out high-end fashions while broadening his mainstream appeal.
Lately, some analysts say Kors appears to be unseating Coach as the preeminent brand in the niche.
Indeed, Coach shares on Tuesday sank to a 52-week low of $45.36, with some citing worries that torrid growth at Michael Kors is stealing away its business.
Michael Kors raised its 2014 earnings outlook Tuesday after reporting fiscal third-quarter profits that soared 77 percent as the company’s revenue passed the $1 billion mark, well ahead of the Street’s view of $835 million.
Kors isn’t the only one who has been getting rich off the company’s momentum.
Fashion entrepreneurs Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll, the billionaire architects of the company’s rise, still own 11.6 million shares valued at $1 billion despite having cashed in most of their initial stake.
This isn’t the first time Chou and Stroll have made a bundle building an American fashion brand.
In the 1990s, the duo minted a fortune as they masterminded the ascent of Tommy Hilfiger.
That brand has since faded, along with the fortunes of its namesake designer. Still, Hilfiger has a personal fortune estimated at $250 million.
Fashion icon Calvin Klein, who bowed out of the fashion-designing business years ago, amassed a fortune selling tight-fitting jeans that’s now pegged at $700 million.