Vera Wang
Vera Wang is one of the most influential fashion designers working today, especially famous for her elegant wedding collections.
Wang was born in 1949 to Chinese parents who had fled the Communist Revolution. Her father owned a successful chemical company and Wang grew up in Manhattan's affluent Upper East Side. Her parents instilled in her a respect for academic achievement and athletic prowess, and, through visits with her mother to the Paris fashion shows, a love of fashion. Her first dream was to become an Olympic pairs figure skater. She competed professionally throughout her teens and she and her partner, James Stuart, placed fifth in the 1968 and 1969 National Championship junior pairs competition.
After failing to make the Olympic team, she gave up the sport to attend the Sorbonne, before returning to America to complete her degree in art history at Sarah Lawrence College. In 1971, however, she dropped out to enter the world of fashion. At the age of just 23, she became Senior Fashion Editor at Vogue Magazine, the youngest editor of that magazine ever. She remained with Vogue for 17 years, and upon leaving, worked as a design director for Ralph Lauren for two years.
In 1989, she married her long-time boyfriend, businessman Arthur Becker. Her hunt for the perfect wedding gown was to change her life. Wang felt the design of the many gowns she looked at was steeped too much in tradition, at the expense of sophistication, and in the end, she designed a dress for herself and had it tailor-made at a cost of $10,000. The frustrating search opened her eyes to the need for elegant, sophisticated, and sexy wedding gowns and in 1990, with financial backing from her father, she struck out on her own, opening a small bridal boutique in the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue.
Her label earned immediate praise from the fashion elite and gained international renown in the 1994 Olympics, when her friend, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, wore costumes designed for her by Wang. The dresses combined Wang's intimate knowledge of the sport and her eye for exquisite detail with the sleek and classic lines for which she has become respected. The simple yet elegant and sophisticated look of the costumes redefined skating fashion and caught the public eye and soon Vera Wang gowns were a fixture at celebrity weddings and events. Among the many celebrities married in Vera Wand dresses are Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Jessica Simpson, Uma Thurman, and Holly Hunter. Halle Berry, Goldie Hawn, Charlize Theron, Anjelica Huston, Meg Ryan, Cate Blanchett, and many others are regular clients.
Today, Wang is considered the world's preeminent designer of wedding fashions, but although her label is justly famous for its stunning wedding collections and evening gowns, she has continued to challenge herself. In 2001, she introduced a line of fragrances and she has also branched out into eyewear, footwear, fine jewelry, and even a home collection. Her name is almost synonymous with simple elegance and sophistication and her designs continue to be popular with celebrities, socialites, and the public alike.
