Vera Wang Biography
As a female designer who has broken barriers to become owner of one of the top fashion houses alongside male names like Ralph Lauren, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein and in the process putting Asia on the world map of fashion personalities, Vera Wang is a name that arouses respect and admiration in the designer’s circles around the world.
Daughter to Cheng Ching Wang and Florence Wu, Vera Ellen Wang was born on June 27 1949 in New York City, New York, USA into a fairly wealthy Chinese family after her parents had landed high paying jobs in the US on relocating from Shanghai, China. Hers was a life of prestige lived in the leafy suburbs of New York and that included attending high profile schools including the Sarah Lawrence College in Manhattan, New York where she concentrated in theatre, The Chapin School and the University of Paris for a major in art history.
The arts had always been fascinating to young Vera and she was involved in acting, history and also in sports throughout her academic life. With the aid of her parents she was able to explore all avenues from elementary school and with failures in acting and art history Vera resorted to her third passion of full time sporting activities, this turned out to be a wise move as she became one of the few American Chinese sports women to make it big in figure skating. The 60’s decade was her year of success with appearances in big league competitions which she easily won this was followed by a celebrity status that was characterised by media interviews and features on tabloids.
This stint in sports was however short lived as a series of failures drove a discouraged Vera out of active competition, with no other interest to move to she decided to do something about the figure skating outfits that had for a long time been unappealing to her. While creating newer designs Vera discovered that she actually loved the activity and there she decided that this time her venture into a passion would result in putting the name Vera Wang in fashion top spots.
With no financial backing or experience to establish a design house Vera joined Vogue fashion magazine in 1991 as a low ranking editor, rising to the top and becoming the senior editor she worked on until late 2007, a two year period under designer Ralph Lauren as a lead designer was followed by a solo venture in 2009.
Vera reopened her small design salon, Vera Wang Bridal House Ltd. from its usual running image from 1990 in 2009 as a high profile wedding design house under the label Vera Ellen Wang. Set for the high clientele, the wedding gown label caused a whirlwind in New York with many critics and clients applauding her designs, she quickly overtook other wedding dress makers to become the leading designer.
Celebrity clients of the Vera Wang label include Victoria Beckham, Mariah Carey, Tyra Banks, Chelsea Clinton, Ivanka Trump, Kate Hudson, Alicia Keys, Uma Thurman, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez and Sharon Stone among others.
Her expertise as an entrepreneur and designer has been used in television series like Project Runway, Sex and the City, The Apprentice and Ugly Betty.
The designer’s brand also offers Jewellery, fragrances and it has expanded to markets in the Asian continent.
|
