Vera Wang

Vera Wang is an Vera Ellen Wang is an American fashion designer based

in New York City. She is arguably the most prominent designer of bridal
wear in America. Vera was born on June 27, 1949, in New York City. A
former figure skater, Wang was senior fashion editor at Vogue for 15
years and then a design director for Ralph Lauren. She designed her own
wedding dress, then opened a bridal boutique and soon launched her own
signature collection. Now hugely popular, she has a large Hollywood
following and also designs lingerie, jewelry and home products.

Early Career and Education

Vera Wang is a former ballet dancer and ice skater, majored in art history at Sarah Lawrence
College in Bronxville, New York. During college she spent one year abroad, studying at the
famed Sorbonne in Paris, where she immersed herself in the country's culture and soaked up
French fashion. After graduation in 1971, Wang was hired at Vogue magazine as an assistant.
She quickly impressed her bosses and was named the magazine's youngest ever fashion editor
in 1972, a post she held for the next fifteen years. Wang left Vogue to fulfill a dream instead of
writing about designers, she wanted to be one of them. In 1987, she got her wish when she was
appointed a design director at the fashion house of Ralph Lauren.

Career

In 1989, Wang wed longtime boyfriend Arthur Becker. Frustrated with the slim selection of
existing bridal wear, she sketched her own design and commissioned a dressmaker to tailor the
elaborate gown at a cost of $10,000. The following year, with some financial backing from her
father, Wang opened her own bridal boutique in the upscale Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue
in New York City.

Catering mostly to celebrities and socialites, the Vera Wang Bridal House initially offered
couture gowns by the famed designers Guy Laroche, Arnold Scaasi, Carolina Herrera, and
Christian Dior. Over the next few years, Wang honed her skills as a fashion designer and
eventually launched a signature collection of streamlined and sophisticated bridal wear.
Wang first received international attention during the 1994 Olympics when she designed a
hand-beaded ensemble for figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Wang has since introduced an equally
popular line of elegant evening wear, as well as Vera Wang Made to Order—a collection of
couture designs that are available exclusively at the Manhattan boutique. To date, both her
bridal and evening apparel are sold at over 55 upscale retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue
and Neiman Marcus.

Personal Life

In 1989, Vera Wang married the wealthy stockbroker Artur Becker. In 1989, she married Arthur
Becker in an interfaith Baptist and Jewish ceremony. They resided in Manhattan with their two
adopted daughters Cecilia (born 1990), who currently lives in New York City, and Josephine
(born 1993), who attended The Chapin School and currently attends Harvard University. Becker
was the CEO of the information technology services company NaviSite until August 2010. In
July 2012, Vera Wang Co. announced that the couple had separated. The separation was
amicable.

Vera Wang loves sports and exercise. She spends her day dealing with all the different lines of
product she handles, from poring over china patterns to small leather goods at Kohl's. She
usually doesn't take phone calls during the day.

Achievements

By balancing modern designs with traditional elegance, Wang has acquired a large following,
particularly in Hollywood. Her fashions are frequently worn to film premieres and award
ceremonies by a number of high-profile actresses, including Halle Berry, Goldie Hawn, Charlize
Theron, Anjelica Huston and Meg Ryan. In 2001, Wang launched her first fragrance and
published a highly anticipated wedding guide. Over the years her business has continued to
grow. It now includes lingerie, jewelry and products for the home. In 2006, Wang reached a deal
with Kohl's, a chain of department stores, to produce a less expensive line of ready-to-wear
clothing exclusively for them called Simply Vera.