Born and raised in New York City, Vera Wang is the daughter of wealthy Chinese immigrants and lived a comfortable childhood as she attended Chapin School and the School of American Ballet before attending college. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, started off as the youngest editor of Vogue magazine. After leaving Vogue she worked for Ralph Lauren. Later she got into bridal wear.
It all started when she became frustrated with the existing selection of bridal wear, and sketched her own gown and commissioned a tailor to create this dress at $10,000. With the help of her affluent father, she opened her own bridal boutique in an upscale hotel on Madison Avenue in New York City. Pretty soon, her bridal boutique took off and the Vera Wang Bridal House started to cater to famous celebrities and the upper class, selling designs from famed designers like Caroline Herrera, Christian Dior, and eventually her own.
In addition to her bridal and ready-to-wear lines, she also designed for figure skaters that competed in the Olympics. This included two-time world champion Nathan Chen’s uniform for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
One of her largest expansions was in 2006, where she partnered with Kohl’s to sell her popular clothing line called Simply Vera. Wang’s clothing has a great sophisticated modern design, with exquisite elegance. Her designs have caught a lot of attention in Hollywood, and have had her dresses worn by many famous actresses like Goldie Hawn, Halle Berry, and Meg Ryan.
Throughout all of her years impacting and changing the fashion industry for Hollywood and the average person, she has won many awards recognizing her astonishing work. To name just a few, she won the 1993 Chinese American Planning Council’s Honoree of the Year Award, CFDA’s Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2005, and the Sandra Taub Humanitarian Award in 2019.
Balancing her busy life of designing, Wang also has two adopted children. Maintaining her job as a devoted and loving mother, Wang’s estimated retail value of goods is estimated to be upwards of $1 billion a year and is ranked 34th in Forbes’ list of America’s Richest Self-Made women in 2018. Serving as an inspiration to Asian-Americans and fashion designers everywhere, Wang continues to thrive running her businesses and being devoted to her family.
Written by: Linda Liu
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