Powerful woman seemed naked before the throng (7)
I believe the answer is:
empress
'powerful woman' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'seemed naked before the throng' is the wordplay.
'naked' says to take the centre (outside letters removed so centre is unclothed).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the throng' becomes 'press' (I've seen this in another clue).
The central letters of 'seemed' are 'em'.
'em'+'press'='EMPRESS'
(Other definitions for empress that I've seen before include "She rules over vast territories" , "Female sovereign" , "She rules over many territories" , "Catherine the Great, for example" , "Female ruler" .)