Vera Wang

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Vera Wang
Vera Wang, September 2007
Born	June 27, 1949 (1949-06-27) (age 58) New York, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Education	The Chapin School Sarah Lawrence College
Labels	Vera Wang
Awards	cfda's womenswear designer of the year in 2005

Vera Wang (Chinese: 王薇薇; pinyin: Wáng Wēiwei; born June 27, 1949) is an American fashion designer based in New York. She is known for her wedding gown collection, among other specialties.

Vera Wang was raised in an affluent family and attended The Chapin School as well as the Sorbonne in Paris. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in art history. Her mother often took her to fashion shows in Paris. Her father started and owned a chemical company.

As a girl, Wang trained as a figure skater, and competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She was actually featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd in the January 8, 1968 issue.^[1] When she failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, she entered the fashion industry.

Wang was a senior fashion editor for Vogue for sixteen years. In 1985, she left Vogue after being turned down for the editor-in-chief position currently filled by Anna Wintour and joined Ralph Lauren as a design director for two years. In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York which featured her trademark bridal gowns. She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan and Michelle Kwan. Silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan wore a unique design of Vera's for the 1994 Olympics. Wang also has made wedding gowns for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Thalia, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Garner, Sharon Stone, Uma Thurman, Holly Hunter, Campbell Brown,^[2] Jeri Ryan,^[3] and Karenna Gore,^[4] among others.

Making a cameo appearance in the Ugly Betty episode A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding, Wang designed and fitted wedding gowns for the fictional character Wilhelmina Slater whose portrayer, Vanessa L. Williams, wore a Vera Wang designed wedding gown to her wedding to NBA legend Rick Fox. As maid of honor, Victoria Beckham who was also playing a cameo role, was also fitted for a gown. A dress she designed for Buffy the Vampire Slayer appeared in the episode "The Prom." Sarah Michelle Gellar, the actress who played Buffy, also had Wang design her actual wedding dress for her marriage to Freddie Prinze, Jr. She also designed the two-piece uniforms currently worn by the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders.^[5]

Wang has expanded her brand name through her fragrance, jewelry, eyeware, shoe and houseware collections. She also wrote the book Vera Wang on Weddings which was released by Harper Collins in October, 2001. In June 2005, she won the CFDA (Council of the Fashion Designers of America) Womenswear Designer of the Year. On May 27, 2006, Wang was awarded the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Vera Wang appeared as a guest judge in the third season of Project Runway.

In 2002, Vera Wang began to enter the home fashion industry. The Vera Wang China and Crystal collection has produced three of the top ten best-selling patterns at bridal registries across the United States after only six months at the stores.^{[citation needed]}

On August 24, 2006, Kohl's announced that it would carry clothing, accessories, footwear, and linens designed by Wang.

Wang currently lives in New York City with her husband, Arthur Becker, and their two adopted daughters, Cecilia, born in 1990, and Josephine, born in 1993, who both currently attend the Chapin School. Arthur is the CEO of an information technology services company called Navisite.

Vera Wang has a select number of boutiques that are located in New York, Boston, Beverly Hills, and Waikiki.

Vera Wang recently appeared on The Apprentice with the weeks task being based around Vera's mattress line. Each team were to create a “Living window“ using actors and actresses in a shop window to promote the new Vera Wang mattress line by Serta.