Before becoming a leading designer in the bridal world, Vera Wang (New York, 73 years old) had already accumulated extensive experience in the fashion industry.
At the age of 23, she became part of the team for the American edition of
Vogue magazine.
, where she worked for 18 years, becoming one of the youngest fashion editors in the history of the newspaper.
At 40, she left that job to launch her own firm and, three decades later, the wedding dress brand has become a diversified business with a place for perfumes, decorative objects, sunglasses and jewelry.
Her power in fashion, business, the media and society reaches such heights that, on Tuesday, March 21, US President Joe Biden awarded her the National Medal for her contribution to the Fine Arts, along with Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and José Feliciano, among others.
The president said that Wang has made beauty and style "accessible to everyone."
“Her dresses of hers always look good on my wife,” she joked.
Wang, who went to the White House with her two daughters, said she felt "incredibly honored" by the recognition "as a woman, mother, designer, businesswoman, and Chinese-American," and for being able to be "a small part of the country's cultural history." .
A not so small part, because her entrepreneurial vision has nothing to envy to her creative talent.
In 2021 Vera Wang Bride, the firm's bridal division, allied with the Pronovias Group, and since then they have developed four joint collections, the last of which was launched on March 16 and focused on bridesmaids and guests.
After these two years, the designer assures that working together with the Spanish firm allows her brand to "reach other markets in countries where we do not sell our designs," she recounted in a telephone conversation with EL PAÍS.
“Pronovias' experience provides confidence, it is a company with international success”, he adds.
A total of 54 dresses make up the new proposals, very colorful and focused for the wedding season, although Wang insists that the dresses are not designs "to wear one day and forget them", but are designed to "stay in the closet Women's".
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Designer Vera Wang after receiving the National Medal for Contribution to Fine Arts from US President Joe Biden, on March 21 at the White House, Washington.Al Drago (Bloomberg)
Daughter of a wealthy family of Chinese immigrants who arrived in New York in the forties, Vera Wang grew up in one of the most exclusive areas of Manhattan and before fashion crossed her path, figure skating was her great passion.
She trained from the age of eight until well into her teens and acknowledges that that stage of discipline and dedication has had a "huge" influence on her work as a designer: "Skating gives you great freedom and helps you to be aware of your body, two gifts valuable to a growing woman.”
For years, she dedicated herself to competing at the national level, but eventually gave up the sport and later found her true calling in the French capital.
“In Paris I discovered my love for fashion, it was clear to me that when I returned to New York I wanted to dedicate myself to it,
Vogue
”, he remembers about his student days.
Color is the protagonist of Vera Wang's guest dresses in her new collection together with the Spanish firm Pronovias.PRONOVIAS
After developing her career as an editor at Vogue for almost two decades, and after a short period working for Ralph Lauren, she decided to found her bridal firm, motivated by the difficulty of finding a dress for her own wedding.
Her knowledge of the sector — "when I launched the brand I already had 20 years of experience in fashion" — dispelled any hint of doubts and she landed in the bridal world in 1990 with a boutique on the exclusive New York street of Madison
Avenue
.
If she has preached anything over the years, it is that there are no rules in fashion and not even the wedding protocol is immutable.
That is why she has dressed the brides in red, black or purple, the tone chosen by Victoria Beckham for one of her
looks
nuptials in his link with David Beckham.
For that July 4, 1999, with a castle near Dublin as the setting, he also dressed Posh Spice in an immense champagne-colored dress that set trends for years;
a suit that was then valued at about 90,000 euros and was among the most expensive wedding dresses in history.
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A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham)
The ex-singer and now British designer is part of the extensive and varied list of celebrities who have said
yes, I do
dressed by Wang, with names like Mariah Carey, Chelsea Clinton, Alicia Keys or, more recently, the singer Ariana Grande.
She has also dressed hundreds and hundreds of celebrities for red carpets;
the last one, that of the recent Oscars, where her designs were used by actresses like Janelle Monae and Mindy Kaling (also awarded last Tuesday with the National Medal).
Discreet, Wang avoids sharing any story with her own name about the process of creating the most popular wedding dresses, but she affirms that with each of her clients she learns something new: "I learn about the bride, but also about human nature and how women see ourselves.
And that's amazing."
From left to right, model Emily Ratajkowsk, at the 2021 Met Gala;
actress Kaley Cuoco, at the last Golden Globes;
the interpreter Mindy Kaling at the last Oscar ceremony;
and the actress Zendaya, at the 2021 CFDA awards. Four 'celebrities' who chose Vera Wang's proposals for the red carpet.cordon press
She assures that she has never wanted to "dictate to others what to do" in terms of fashion, perhaps because in the past she herself had to abide by the prevailing conventions.
“To be honest, in fashion it was all rules.
When you traveled, for example, you had to take gloves, I used to take gloves, a bag and a hat when I was 17 or 18 years old and I traveled with my parents, ”she recounts.
And she reflects on how, little by little, women have been acquiring greater freedom, starting with clothing: "With the so-called female emancipation in the seventies, people like Gloria Steinem encouraged women, not only to have freedom when it comes to dress, but when it comes to thinking, behaving and living”.
A regular on social media —she has a personal account on Instagram and TikTok—, she makes a declaration of principles out of each of the personal images she shares with her followers.
By showing off her navel or wearing a dress that reveals her underwear, she avoids the prejudices of age, buried under the weight of the high platforms that are a regular part of her wardrobe.
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A post shared by Vera Wang (@verawang)
At 73 years old, he shows no sign of tiredness.
His fortune is around 500 million dollars (about 471 million euros), according to data from
Forbes
magazine published in 2021, and far from stagnating, his brand continues to evolve.
The business began to diversify in 2000, when he introduced
ready-to-wear designs,
for everyday life, outside the bridal concept.
Her talent was recognized by winning the 2006 Women's Fashion Designer of the Year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
His already iconic bridal dresses are still the jewel in the crown, but today in the Wang empire they sell everything from sunglasses to perfumes, decorative objects, jewelry or even spirits.
In addition, the company is committed to a varied licensing business that brings the brand closer to a larger audience.
After more than half a century immersed in the world of fashion, she assures that where you learn the most is in short distances and in the day-to-day life of the profession: "I always say: spend a day in any of my stores and you will learn more than you can learn sitting in a fashion studio.”
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