Vera Wang was a professional figure skater before she became a well-known fashion designer. But in 1968, she wasn’t chosen for the US Olympic team, so Wang decided to make a big, unexpected change in her life and become a fashion designer.
We at Natureistic wanted to find out why Vera Wang is called a “revolutionary” in the fashion industry and how she made every woman in the world want to get married in her dresses. And the bonus part shows that we can all learn something from her.
How to get started in the world of fashion.
When she was a child, the future designer was already interested in fashion. She remembers how her mother’s clothes made other people take notice. And it really interested little Vera. She tried to be as close to the fashion industry as she could while she was in college. And at that time, the only job available was working in a boutique. So, the student spent two summers at a Yves Saint Laurent store learning about haute couture.
Vera Wang got a degree in art history and started working at Vogue. She was one of the magazine’s fashion editors who was the youngest ever. She worked for the magazine for almost 20 years, but she felt like she’d done all she could, so she made way for Anna Wintour, who inspired the character in The Devil Wears Prada.
Wang said, “I would have laughed if someone had told me I’d be the girl who didn’t get married until she was 40 and would build a business around wedding gowns.” Vera married businessman Arthur Becker in 1989. She looked for a long time for a nice dress. When she couldn’t find it, she figured out what she really wanted to do.
Wang quickly realized that breaking stereotypes was her thing. She remembers how many people didn’t understand her when she first started making wedding dresses. Why would a bride choose to wear black? Easy! Wang broke many of the rules about how weddings are usually done. She gave women freedom by telling them that nobody could tell them how to look on their wedding day.
What did she mean exactly? She showed the world that a bride could wear any color dress. She made a line of red wedding dresses after being inspired by Chinese culture. After that, she added gray, beige, black, and other colors.
Wang also went against social norms when she said that women did not have to hide their arms. So, she bought Keira Knightley a dress for her red carpet appearance.
The designer always surprised people with what she made, whether it was for a wedding or just an evening dress. She once made a bunch of dresses with pearls on them and put each one in a tub of tea for a year. Of course, the color turned out to be one of a kind.
All women can buy dresses.
Vera Wang is best known for making wedding dresses and dresses for special occasions for celebrities. Gwen Stefani, Tina Kunakey, Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, and the Kardashian sisters all have dresses by Vera Wang. But the designer didn’t just want to dress famous women. She also wanted to dress more women.
She made clothes in three price ranges, including ones for discount stores, so that people who aren’t famous could also buy them. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that her products became so popular.
After the movies Sex and the City, Gossip Girl, How to Get Away with Murder, and Bride Wars came out, Wang dresses became famous. For an important event, millions of women wanted to look like famous characters and wear a dress by a famous designer.
Vera Wang outside of work.
Wang has an unusual way of looking at fashion and life in general. She had no interest in getting married. When she was about 40, everyone around her, like Anna Wintour and Ralph Lauren, told her it was time to stop working and start a family. Vera gave in and tied the knot.
She was a realist, so she didn’t romanticize this wedding, and she was never sure she was happy. They were married for 23 years and then broke up. Since 2012, she hasn’t been with anyone.
Wang got two daughters after she and her husband got a divorce. She calls them Cesi and Jo. Even though their mother is one of the most famous fashion designers in the world, the girls have never worn any of her haute couture clothes. Wang says that she has always been against glamour, so she dresses her kids in cheap stores so they don’t stand out.
Vera Wang is also not like most people because of how she looks. The designer wears bright clothes and has the body of a 20-year-old girl no matter how old she is. Just think about it: in the photo above, she is 72 years old. When people ask her how she stays so young-looking, she jokes that she works a lot, sleeps a lot, and doesn’t spend much time in the sun.
Well, it’s not entire true. She is healthy because she eats well and doesn’t drink or eat bad things, like soda. She also works out every morning when she wakes up.
The famous wedding planner shows that when one door closes, another one always opens. And every time something doesn’t go as planned, she says, “You’ve been here before. You’ve been through this before, so you’ll figure it out.”