Wang receives fashion award
NEW YORK (AP) – Vera Wang, arguably the queen of red-carpet dressing, didn’t go into the fashion business with stars in her eyes. She knew about its unglamorous side, the hard work and, especially, the risks. And there were plenty of doubts along the way.
But every time one person – and, she says, it really just takes one – understands what she’s trying to express with a certain drape of a fabric, a particular color or a new silhouette, she’s reminded of the reason why she became involved in fashion, and why she’s still in it: There’s an indefinable payoff that comes when she’s helped a woman look and feel her best.
“I didn’t come into this like all these teenagers who don’t know better. I wasn’t a ‘young, new designer,’ but I was a new designer and had to go through those growing pains,” Wang said in a recent interview.
Wang, 63, was honored for lifetime achievement by the Council of Fashion Designers at its star-studded awards show Monday night at Lincoln Center. She accepted the award from her mentor Ralph Lauren.
There’s rarely a Hollywood event or an A-list wedding where Wang’s name doesn’t come up. You probably couldn’t go into a shopping mall without seeing it, either.
Her hit parade includes the lavender skirt actress Sharon Stone paired with a Gap shirt at the Oscars in 1998, Chelsea Clinton’s crystal-waistband wedding gown in 2010 and the rose-printed gray jacquard chiffon blouse and evening robe worn with gray rose-printed pants that closed her last catwalk show at New York Fashion Week.