The Veracity of Vera Wang
In an industry that typically sweeps aside its elders, the 75-year-old is a working living legend.
Thank god Vera Wang is an old lady. And we say that without a trace of irony. We’re not sure of the exact minimum age for guests to be included on Julia Louis Dreyfus’ brilliant, funny, and truthful podcast “Wiser Than Me” (perhaps one just needs to be older than Julia?), but Vera Wang was old enough to make the cut, and for that we are so grateful. Where else would we hear her talk about what it’s like date in your 70s after decades of marriage; or what her signature long, sleek black hair really looks like if she were to stop coloring it; how she connects to her body at this phase of her life, or even her candid acknowledgement that she has less time ahead of her than behind.
It’s not that Wang’s experiences are especially unique to the point of being unrelatable, but that there are sadly still so few outlets and channels for her and other accomplished and well-known women of her generation to share them. That’s why every episode of “Wiser Than Me” delivers one revelation after the next. Expanding our notions of whose stories we deem worthy of sharing is an empty premise if we think that one old lady’s story is representative of every other old lady’s story. We’re born, we die, but everything in between is our own.
There’s something about the way Vera wang speaks that’s so refreshingly unwavering. When you’ve lived on this earth as long as she has (Wang turned 75 last month, by the way), hesistance probably feels more senseless by the day. And yet we don’t have many 75-year-olds still working in fashion to lend their unfiltered thoughts. That she’s had the audacious nerve to stick around is probably an inspiration to many and a vexation to others. Wang doesn’t give a f!@#.
This year marks Wang’s 55th in fashion—her 35th running her own brand. In an era when time operates at warp speeds, and three years may as well be 13—Kendall Jenner was hailed on a recent cover of Vogue for her decade-long modeling career, for example—Wang’s longevity as a fashion designer makes her a rare phenomenon, and a cultural treasure.
Here are some of our favorite takeaways and thoughts on the conversation.
Was your own mother fashionable? Did she have a big impact on your own sense of style, growing up? “She was my first influence, and she always was. We started going to Paris pretty much every year, every few years, so she could shop in Paris. And she really introduced me to Yves Saint Laurent because he was a young guy, and she fell in love with it. She always admired artists. She was a real woman, truly a woman of substance. She used to say to me, ‘Every age’—I’ll never forget, and I was young. I was, like, 14, 15, 16, 18—‘Every age has its unique time and beauty.’”
On living gracefully (More advice from Vera’s mom.): “And she said, ‘It's not the same. It never will be. But you find your way through every’—she didn't say decades, but she said ‘every stage,’ and I always took that with me. And then I remember Chanel said the same thing: ‘When you're young, you know what you look like. It's God-given. But as you age, it's how you've lived.’ I think I might be misquoting Chanel.”
One major difference between male and female designers: “You know, for male designers—they've often said this in interviews—they approach women as muses. And perhaps they use their muse through which they can filter and receive different concepts. But for women designers, it's so personal. Whether you're me or, you know, Donna Karan or Miuccia Prada or Jil Sander, we relate to our clothes on the first level. We wear them. We put them on physically, and that gives you an entire different take and understanding of what designing should be, what designng shouldn’t be. Should it be stretch? Should it not? Should it provide support, or should it be loose, you know, and very open? It really depends. Men bring certainly an abstractness to it. They're not wearing the dress. They haven't felt the dress. It’s a different perspective completely. A woman designer, I pretty much see how a woman can look.”
We have so many thoughts about this statement. It would seem obvious, right? But why does it still sound so radical when someone—a woman‚ typically—says it aloud? Until Wang’s male counterparts openly and publicly express the same notion (and their reasons for abstaining would predictably range from pride and self-delusion, to fear of causing one’s own dismissal), there will never be a full-enough chorus to validate this conviction as a truth.
The forever truism of being comfortable in one’s skin. “I think a woman never looks more beautiful or more confident than when she's comfortable. And so I think comfort, both physically, and also emotionally, and artistically and creatively— that's when a woman feels true to herself. Whatever that persona is to me, that's when they look their best and feel their best.”
This also goes back to age and how you can be your 50s, and feel better than ever, simply by knowing yourself and what you like, what what makes you feel good, and feeling confident and comfortable. When that radiates out into the world, the world reflects it back. It’s the healthiest kind of intoxicating, one that transcends fashion and artifice, and taps into something more deeply encoded in our DNA. It’s almost primal.
And we see this in Wang’s vision. She’s continuously evolving and expanding her aesthetic—in 2021, she launched her iconic all-black bridal collection, for example—yet without losing herself along the way. By knowing better than to nose dive into the crowded fashion mosh pit, with its “-cores” and viral, flash-in-the-pan trends, Wang hasn’t had to make herself louder than anyone else to be heard. She hasn’t had to fake it to make it, because she’s always been 100% true to herself. And what’s more, when women designers like Wang say they design for themselves, it’s not a cop out but a strength. We should all be our own best models.