Vera Ellen Wang is a New York-born fashion designer who designed the wedding gown for Ivanka Trump. As of today, unlike many fashion designers, Wang is very much politically neutral about dressing First Lady Melania Trump.
Early Life and Education
Vera Wang was born on June 27, 1949 to father Cheng Ching and mother Florence Wu. Raised in a Chinese family in New York City, Vera went to The Chaplin School until 1967 and joined the University of Paris. She transferred to Sarah Lawrence College and graduated with an undergraduate degree in art history.
Personal Life
Vera Wang was married to Arthur Becker from 1989 to 2012. The couple has two adopted daughters named Cecilia and Josephine. Cecilia is a New Yorker and Josephine is an undergrad student at Harvard University. As per Wang’s announcement in 2012, she and Arthur separated in a mutual understanding.
Wang is very passionate about sports. In fact, she was a participant in the 1968 US Figure Skating Championships. Besides skating, Vera also likes tennis and hates missing a Grand Slam match.
Career
As a sports fanatic, Vera Wang was hoping to enter the Olympic games as a US skating champion. Unfortunately, she couldn’t make it, hence chose the path of fashion designing for a professional career. And, it’s definitely true the choice served her well.
Graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, Vera Wang joined Vogue magazine as an editor. Appointed as the youngest ever editor of Vogue, Wang is indeed a fashion designing prodigy. She remained in the Vogue for 17 years and joined Ralph Lauren. Working alongside him for 2 years, Wang decided to leave working for others and start working for herself i.e. become an independent designer.
40 years old, still dynamic and filled with experience and motivation, Vera Wang started making wedding gowns which have been worn by several renowned figures such as Chelsea Clinton, Ivanka Trump, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham, Kim and Khloe Kardashian. Besides wedding dress, Wang also designs costumes for skaters. In the 1994 Olympics, Vera designed the unique outfit for silver medalist skater Nancy Kerrigan.
Vera Wang is famous among cheerleaders’ attire as well – she designed the uniform for Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders. Likewise, Wang has also made some evening wears. Over a long period of time in the fashion industry, Vera Wang’s business has skyrocketed, hence making her diversify towards perfumes, lingerie, jewelry and other accessories. Also, she has been in retail sales of her costume designed clothes via a salon in the Carlyle Hotel, New York.
In addition, Wang has made several appearances in numerous movies and television shows. The very first appearance was on Ugly Betty in 2007. Since then, she has made four other appearances: in The Celebrity Apprentice 2008, Chelsea Lately in 2011, Keeping Up with the Kardashians in 2011 and Gossip Girl in 2012. Likewise, in 2004, Wang had a role in the movie First Daughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oiUvnKBL7M
Awards
- Council of Fashion Designers of America Womenswear Designer of the Year, 2005
- Council of Fashion Designers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, 2013
Donald Trump and Vera Wang
Vera Wang designed the wedding gown for Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump. She also worked for former First Lady Michelle Obama. Unlike some prominent fashion designers, Vera Wang seems neutral about dressing Melania Trump. She says, “We have not been contacted by the Trump campaign or administration thus far. But the first lady-elect should support American fashion, as did her predecessors.”
