Hardworking, beautiful and talented; these women have made an impression in 2011. From designers to fashion darlings, we count down the 5 most inspiring women of the past year.

5. SARAH BURTON
2011 will forever go down in history as Sarah Burton’s breakthrough year. It doesn’t get much better than designing a future Royal’s wedding dress. Kate Middleton looked utterly stunning from the moment she stepped out of the carriage on April 29th, captivating audiences the world over, not least because of the dreamy McQueen creation that so perfectly complimented her poise and beauty. Since, Kate has continued to be an avid fan of McQueen and Sarah Burton’s latest catwalk creations sealed her reputation as one of the great British designers.

4. VICTORIA BECKHAM
Victoria Beckham has come on a long way from her Posh Spice days. The fashion queen and mother of four has realised her designer dreams in a big way. Not always confident about her design abilities; Victoria has proved herself more than ever before in 2011. Her creations have been worn by A-listers across the world and she received the prestigious Designer Brand of the Year gong at the BFAs. Seemingly overcome with all the praise, we think Victoria is a worthy top 5 inspiration; her main fashion line sales are up by 70%! That is serious girl power!

3. ELIN KLING
Swedish blogger Elin Kling runs Scandinavia’s largest fashion blog – Style by Kling. Over the years she has built up an enviable CV; now running her own magazine, STYLEBY. She was the first ever blogger to design a collection for H&M, which launched in the spring. Recently, she has become creative director behind a pioneering new fashion brand – Nowhere. The contemporary collection has already been worn by the crème of the fashion blogging crop and we predict big things for Nowhere in 2012.

4. ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY
Beautiful Rosie has had an amazing year. She starred in her first blockbuster movie; Transformers: Dark of the Moon and was voted 1st place for the annual FHM sexiest woman of the year poll. Burberry picked her to model for a pretty big campaign, not to mention she is a Victoria’s Secret Angel. You would be forgiven for experiencing inane jealousy towards the Devon-born beauty. However, Rosie comes across so humble, down-to-earth and, well, just plain lovely in interviews that you really can’t hate her for too long.

1. BEYONCE
First place is awarded to none other than the utterly amazing Beyoncé. We can’t rave about this woman enough. Possessing one of the most powerful voices in pop, Beyoncé’s hard work and raw talent poured into one of our favourite albums of the year, ‘4’. At the VMAs in LA earlier this year, she revealed her pregnancy, with husband Jay Z, to the watching world. At the height of her career, the news of a baby B couldn’t have come at a more perfect time and we wish her all the best in the next few months. After all, this baby really will be ‘Destiny’s Child.’