Biography of Bridal Wear fashion designer: Vera Wang - Essay Example

Vera Wang Vera Wang is a Chinese-American fashion designer who was born on June 27, 1949 in New York Wang’s parents were born and raised in Shanghai, China, but moved to the United States just a few years before Wang was born. Her mother was a translator for the United Nations and her gather owned a medicine company. Wang completed her basic education at Chapin School, an all-girl private school in Manhattan. Afterwards, she attended the University of Paris, but completed her degree in art history at Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester County, New York (Reese 12).

Wang was married in 1989 to Arthur Becker, who is the CEO of an information technology services company. The couple live in Manhattan with their two older daughters. Though considered to be one of the greatest bridal fashion designers, Wang had no intentions of becoming a fashion designer until her first dream fell through: becoming a professional ice skater. When she was in high school, Wang trained as a figure skater with a male partner, and together they competed in the United States Figure Skating Championships in 1968.

Wang received recognition for her performance and was featured in an issue of Sport’s Illustrated. However, after she was unable to make the United States Olympics team for figure skating, Wang focused her attention and energy on entering the fashion industry. It was then that she went to Sarah Lawrence College to obtain her art history degree. Before Wang became a designer, she spent sixteen years as the senior fashion editor for Vogue. After her sixteen years of loyalty to the fashion magazine, she attempted to obtain the position of editor-in-chief (Krohn 27); unfortunately, she was turned down and she left the company.

Not too long after, Wang merged with Ralph Lauren for a couple of years as a design director. After spending so many years being shunted to the side by other designers, though still working on her own creations, Wang finally opened her own design salon in 1990, where her trademark bridal gowns are still on display. Vera Wang quickly became well-known for her spectacular wedding dresses. Celebrities, actresses, and public figures began to request custom-made wedding dresses from Wang, including Chelsea Clinton, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez, and Kate Hudson.

She has also made quite a name for herself in costume designing, having created the outfits for figure skaters, including Michelle Kwan; Nancy Kerrigan wore one of Wang’s designs when she was in the 1994 Olympics. The uniforms worn by the cheerleaders of the Philadelphia Eagles are also creations of Wang’s. Wang’s bridal creations have also made their way to the silver screen, being featured in television shows, such as Sex and the City, and in numerous movies, including Bride Wars, where both Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson wore bridal dresses made specially for the movie.

As Wang’s popularity began to increase, so did her market of products. Besides creating wedding dresses, she expanded her name to include fragrances, jewelry, shoes, housewares, and eyewear. Many of her products have been created to compliment her wedding dresses, so that certain shoes and jewelry are designed specifically to match certain wedding dresses. Similarly, Wang also does custom-creation for women who buy Vera Wang wedding dresses but also want matching accessories. In 2007, her collection grew even more when Wang started to dabble in the home fashion industry, creating china and crystal collections; many of these were also custom-created for weddings featuring some of her either designs and products.

Vera Wang has been recognized by numerous organizations and awards groups, receiving many awards for her creations. In 2005, Wang was awarded with the Council of Fashion Designers of America womenswear designer of the year award, then later went on to receive the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award. Even though it was not in the way that she intended, Wang was given the honor of being placed in the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009 for her contribution to figure skating as a costume designer (Petrillo 72).

In 2010, twenty years after Wang had opened her first bridal boutique, Wang was given the Leadership in the Arts Award by the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association. Vera Wang is continuing to increase her line of bridal clothes, accessories, and housewares, filling orders for celebrities and average citizens alike, as well as many film companies. She has also begun to create fashions solely for charity auctions, giving her proceeds to designated charities. Her start in the fashion industry may have been late, and it may have been at the cost of a failed previous dream, but she has made a name for herself that many people have become familiar with.

Works Cited Krohn, Katherine E. Vera Wang: Enduring Style. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books, 2009. Print. Petrillo, Lisa. Vera Wang. Greensboro, NC: Morgan Reynolds Publishing, 2011. Print. Reese, Jenny. Essential American Fashion and Top American Designers. New York: 6 Degrees Books, 2010. Print.