WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 So I was reading through the financial press 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:06.259 from late 2024, specifically the documents regarding 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:09.160 a massive acquisition deal in December. And it 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:11.960 struck me that we have this very specific, very 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:15.500 polished idea of who Vera Wang is. You say the 00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:18.699 name Vera Wang and I immediately think pristine 00:00:18.699 --> 00:00:22.920 silence, layers of tulle, the Plaza Hotel, maybe 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.339 a bride crying happy tears in a $20 ,000 dress. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.339 Right. It is very soft. It is the fairy tale 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:33.640 industrial complex. It is the ultimate soft power. 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:36.619 That name is synonymous with the happiest day 00:00:36.619 --> 00:00:38.920 of your life. Yeah. But if you stop there, you 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.380 are missing the actual story. Right. Because 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:43.560 when you look at the actual human being behind 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:45.579 the label and you dig into the sources we have 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:48.280 today, the biographical records, the business 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.560 archives and the details of this 2024 sale, the 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:53.780 story isn't about fairy tales at all. Not even 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.179 close. It is a story about a woman who is essentially 00:00:56.179 --> 00:00:59.200 a gladiator. A gladiator in six inch heels. Seriously. 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:01.859 We are talking about an Olympic level athlete 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.239 who failed publicly and was absolutely crushed 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:06.340 by it. We are talking about someone who entered 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.760 the cutthroat world of fashion design at age 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:11.579 40, which is practically. geriatric in an industry 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:14.640 obsessed with youth and then proceeded to dominate 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.719 the market for three decades. And not just dominate 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:20.719 it, but fundamentally change how the money works 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.920 in high fashion. The deep dive today isn't really 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.159 about wedding dresses. No. I mean, we will talk 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:29.120 about the dresses, obviously. Yeah. But this 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:32.680 is really a case study on resilience, the brutal 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:36.170 economics of luxury. and perhaps the smartest, 00:01:36.349 --> 00:01:39.450 weirdest career pivot in American business history. 00:01:39.590 --> 00:01:41.310 And we have a lot to get through. We have the 00:01:41.310 --> 00:01:44.189 skating records from 1968, the Vogue archives 00:01:44.189 --> 00:01:47.109 where she spent nearly two decades, and the financial 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:49.709 breakdowns of how she managed to sell high -end 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:52.090 couture and Kohl's t -shirts at the same time 00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:54.170 without destroying her brand. It's an incredible 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:56.269 tightrope walk. But before we get to the billions, 00:01:56.349 --> 00:01:59.349 we have to start on the ice. We have to. Because 00:01:59.349 --> 00:02:01.750 you cannot understand the businesswoman without 00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:03.909 understanding the athlete. I want to hover on 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:05.870 the skating years for a minute because I think 00:02:05.870 --> 00:02:08.569 people hear figure skater in a celebrity bio 00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:10.750 and they think of a hobby. Oh, yeah. Like it 00:02:10.750 --> 00:02:12.870 was a fun little after school activity. They 00:02:12.870 --> 00:02:14.789 think, oh, she took lessons at the local mall 00:02:14.789 --> 00:02:17.669 on Saturdays. No, no. This was not recreational. 00:02:17.710 --> 00:02:21.069 This was get up at 4 a .m., skate until school, 00:02:21.229 --> 00:02:23.069 go back to the rink, do homework in the car, 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:26.710 intensity. This was a full time job for a child. 00:02:27.129 --> 00:02:29.330 The sources are pretty clear about this. She 00:02:29.330 --> 00:02:32.069 started at eight years old, which is a common 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:34.710 age for this level of session to start. It has 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:37.210 to start that young. Your body is still pliable. 00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:39.830 You don't have the same fear an adult does. And 00:02:39.830 --> 00:02:42.909 she wasn't just at some local club. We are looking 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:45.530 at sources that place her training in Denver 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:48.490 during the summers. It's a big deal. It's a huge 00:02:48.490 --> 00:02:50.629 deal. Now, keep in mind, she's a New York City 00:02:50.629 --> 00:02:53.310 girl. She grew up on the Upper East Side, but 00:02:53.310 --> 00:02:55.599 she's shipping out to Denver. away from home, 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.879 to train with top coaches like Peter Dunfield 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.219 and Sonja Klopfer. And these aren't just any 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:03.539 coaches. These are legends in the skating world. 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:05.900 This is like a young musician going to Julliard 00:03:05.900 --> 00:03:08.060 for the summer. It's the highest level of training 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:10.740 you can get. She was all in. And she wasn't just 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:13.020 doing solo loops, right? She was a pair skater. 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:15.860 Which is a crucial distinction. Yeah. It's so 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:17.460 much more dangerous. It's so much more technically 00:03:17.460 --> 00:03:20.360 demanding. She skated with a partner named James 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:23.889 Stewart. What does that add to the equation psychologically? 00:03:24.530 --> 00:03:26.270 Well, if you know anything about physics and 00:03:26.270 --> 00:03:29.409 skating, pairs is incredibly dangerous. You are 00:03:29.409 --> 00:03:31.169 being thrown in the air. You are doing death 00:03:31.169 --> 00:03:33.949 spirals. You are spinning in close proximity 00:03:33.949 --> 00:03:36.590 with blades attached to your feet. Literally 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:40.090 blades. Sharp metal blades. It requires a level 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:42.789 of trust and precision that goes way beyond just 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:45.949 skating around. You have to be in total sync 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:48.830 with another human being. Your life is quite 00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:52.099 literally. in their hands on some of these moves. 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.099 So she's learning discipline, she's learning 00:03:54.099 --> 00:03:57.180 artistry, but she's also learning this intense, 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.080 high stakes collaboration. Exactly. And that's 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:01.699 a business skill, right? Trusting a partner. 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.120 Absolutely. And they were good. They weren't 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:05.599 just participating. They were competing at the 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:08.659 national level. They made it to the 1968 U .S. 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:11.180 Figure Skating Championships. Which is the top 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:13.740 tier. That is the funnel for the Olympics. That's 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:15.620 the competition when the Olympic team gets selected. 00:04:15.900 --> 00:04:17.680 This is the moment she had been training for 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.220 since she was eight years old. And we actually 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:21.620 found this incredible little nugget in the archives 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:25.819 in the January 9, 1968 issue of Sports Illustrated. 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:28.759 There she is. Vera Wang featured in Faces in 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:30.759 the Crowd. It's amazing. Little black and white 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.519 photo. That is wild to me. Imagine flipping through 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:36.439 a sports magazine in 1968. You're looking for 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:40.220 football scores or boxing stats, and you see 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:43.139 the future queen of bridal fashion, but she's 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:46.300 wearing skates, not a gown. And the caption implies 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:49.560 her trajectory is set. It positions her as a 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.519 rising star, an athlete on the cusp of greatness. 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:55.600 She is aiming for the Grenoble Olympics. That 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:57.740 was the only goal. It was the singular focus 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:00.420 of her young life. She had dedicated her entire 00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:03.180 childhood and adolescence to this one specific 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:06.120 moment, the 1968 Games. Everything was riding 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.120 on it. And then the crash. The source material 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:11.160 is a little blunt here. It just says she didn't 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:14.160 make the cut. Which sounds so simple. But the 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.180 emotional reality of that. I mean, in elite sports, 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.459 that is the cruelest part. There is no second 00:05:20.459 --> 00:05:23.060 place prize for the Olympic team. You are either 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:25.930 on the plane or you are sitting at home. And 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:27.889 she was sitting at home. She was sitting at home. 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:30.529 She described it later in interviews as being 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:33.310 devastated. And I think we need to really pause 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:36.089 and empathize with that. Imagine being 19 years 00:05:36.089 --> 00:05:39.129 old. You have given up your social life. You 00:05:39.129 --> 00:05:41.910 have trained thousands of hours. You have pushed 00:05:41.910 --> 00:05:44.250 your body to the limit. Your parents have invested 00:05:44.250 --> 00:05:47.230 a fortune. And you are told, no, you aren't good 00:05:47.230 --> 00:05:50.490 enough in a public forum. That breaks people. 00:05:51.100 --> 00:05:53.019 That is the kind of trauma that sends people 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.540 into a tailspin for a decade. I mean, how many 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:57.819 stories have we heard of athletes who peak in 00:05:57.819 --> 00:05:59.579 high school and then spend the rest of their 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:02.079 lives at the local bar talking about could have 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:04.540 been. That's the narrative for so many. Exactly. 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:07.120 Or they cling to it. They become a coach at the 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.079 local rink just to stay close to the glory, unable 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.430 to let go of the dream. Vera Wang did something 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:15.009 very specific, and I think this is the key to 00:06:15.009 --> 00:06:17.610 her entire character. She went cold turkey. She 00:06:17.610 --> 00:06:20.009 quit. She just walked away completely. She walked 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:22.329 away completely. She recognized with a kind of 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:24.870 surgical precision that that door was closed. 00:06:24.949 --> 00:06:27.389 The Olympic dream was dead. So she turned around 00:06:27.389 --> 00:06:29.329 and looks for a completely different door. But, 00:06:29.430 --> 00:06:32.050 and this is the important part, she took the 00:06:32.050 --> 00:06:35.430 work ethic of an Olympic -level athlete and applied 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:37.810 it to a completely different field. She didn't 00:06:37.810 --> 00:06:40.759 lose the discipline. She just re -aimed it. She 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.800 traded the ice rink for the fashion closet. Precisely. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.660 She has said in interviews that she still views 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:50.680 skating as multidimensional. And I think what 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:53.180 she means is that the discipline, the artistic 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:56.279 expression, the performance aspect, the need 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.939 to be perfect under pressure, she just transferred 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:01.040 all that energy into clothes. So the failure 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.139 wasn't a waste. It was a training ground. It 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:04.920 was the most important training ground of her 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:07.660 life. But it wasn't an overnight switch where 00:07:07.660 --> 00:07:10.060 she suddenly became a famous designer. This is 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:12.420 the other myth we need to bust. There was a long, 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:14.800 long apprenticeship. Yeah, let's talk about that, 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:17.279 because sometimes when we tell these successful 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:19.759 founder stories, it sounds like she failed at 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.879 skating. So the next day she opened a shop and 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:24.079 became a billionaire. The highlight reel version. 00:07:24.180 --> 00:07:26.699 Right. But there was a 20 year gap there. A 20 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:29.420 year education. And it started with her background. 00:07:29.459 --> 00:07:31.680 We should mention she came from a family that 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.959 valued education and had the means to support 00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:37.759 it. Her father. Chengqing Wang was an MIT graduate 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:40.240 and a tycoon in the oil and pharmaceutical industries. 00:07:40.420 --> 00:07:43.879 So serious money, serious intellect. Yes. And 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:46.519 her mother, Florence Wu, was a translator for 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:48.420 the United Nations. So you have this combination 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:52.319 of business acumen from her father and this global 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:54.920 diplomatic cultural fluency from her mother. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:58.120 So she grew up in a world of high intellect and 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:01.199 high society. Absolutely. The records show she 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:03.410 was a debutante. presented at the International 00:08:03.410 --> 00:08:07.230 Debutante Ball in 1968 at the Waldorf Astoria, 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:10.089 that is, serious old -school New York society. 00:08:10.569 --> 00:08:13.050 She went to the Chapin School, one of the most 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:15.730 exclusive all -girls schools in the city. Then 00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:17.629 Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied art 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:19.689 history and even spent time at the University 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:22.589 of Paris. Okay, so that's a key detail, art history. 00:08:22.709 --> 00:08:25.250 She wasn't studying fashion design. No, she was 00:08:25.250 --> 00:08:28.329 studying composition, color theory, art movements, 00:08:28.550 --> 00:08:31.660 history. She was training her eye, not her sewing 00:08:31.660 --> 00:08:34.399 skills. So she had this incredibly refined aesthetic 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:36.860 education. She's studying art history. She's 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:38.600 living in Paris. She's coming from this diplomatic, 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:41.600 wealthy background. And immediately upon graduation 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:43.840 from Sarah Lawrence, she gets hired at Vogue. 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.779 And not just hired. She became the youngest editor 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:49.100 at Vogue. Let's unpack that. Youngest editor. 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.799 What does that even mean in that era? It means 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.879 she was a prodigy. The magazine world then was 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.360 very hierarchical. You started as an assistant's 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.919 assistant and worked your way up for years. To 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:02.120 be made an editor that young meant she had an 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.320 incredible eye and an even more incredible work 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.100 ethic. Okay, so we have to do the math here. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:08.600 She starts at Vogue right out of college. She 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:12.159 stays there for 17 years. 17 years. Let that 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.659 sink in. That is a lifetime. In today's job market, 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:18.100 staying somewhere for three years feels like 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:23.029 an eternity. 17 years is a career. A full, complete 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:26.289 career. It really is. And think about what that 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.409 job entails. Being an editor at Vogue, especially 00:09:29.409 --> 00:09:32.789 in the 70s and 80s under Grace Mirabella, wasn't 00:09:32.789 --> 00:09:35.669 just about picking nice clothes. She was a sittings 00:09:35.669 --> 00:09:38.940 editor. Break that down for us. What does a sittings 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:41.620 editor actually do? So a sittings editor is the 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:43.580 one on set. She's the one styling the shoot. 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:45.500 She is working with the greatest photographers 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:48.379 in history, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut 00:09:48.379 --> 00:09:50.600 Newton. She is selecting the clothes, putting 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.480 them on the model, and crafting the entire visual 00:09:53.480 --> 00:09:55.549 narrative of the photograph. So she's not just 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:57.970 observing fashion, she's creating the images 00:09:57.970 --> 00:10:00.950 that define fashion for millions of people. She 00:10:00.950 --> 00:10:03.470 is responsible for the image. This means she 00:10:03.470 --> 00:10:06.289 is spending 17 years training her eye to see 00:10:06.289 --> 00:10:09.330 imperfection, a crease that's out of place, a 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:12.269 hem that's a millimeter too long. a color that's 00:10:12.269 --> 00:10:14.690 slightly off under the lights. It's like a residency 00:10:14.690 --> 00:10:17.490 for a surgeon, but for aesthetics. Exactly. It's 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:19.549 thousands and thousands of hours of intense visual 00:10:19.549 --> 00:10:21.730 training. She is learning fabric. She's learning 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:23.769 drape. She is learning lighting. She is learning 00:10:23.769 --> 00:10:26.370 how a millimeter of difference in a hemline changes 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:28.870 the entire silhouette. But more importantly, 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:32.070 she is learning the commercial side. She is seeing 00:10:32.070 --> 00:10:34.830 what covers sell on the newsstand and which ones 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:37.730 flop. She is getting a master class in consumer 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:40.169 psychology. She's learning what women aspire 00:10:40.169 --> 00:10:43.529 to be, what images make them dream. And she's 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:46.090 building a contact list that is, you know, basically 00:10:46.090 --> 00:10:49.009 a who's who of the entire fashion industry. And 00:10:49.009 --> 00:10:51.909 she was ambitious. She wanted the top job. She 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:53.990 wanted to be the editor in chief. She had put 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:56.370 in the time. She had the skills. She had paid 00:10:56.370 --> 00:10:59.250 her dues. But the timelines are a bit complex 00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:01.169 here, but the gist is that she hit a ceiling. 00:11:01.529 --> 00:11:04.870 The top job was promised to someone else. She 00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:07.169 realized she wasn't going to get that top spot. 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:09.409 The history books tell us that spot eventually 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:11.610 went to Anna Wintour. Correct. So there's this 00:11:11.610 --> 00:11:13.570 moment of succession, and Vera isn't the chosen 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:16.330 one. And once again, Vera is facing a failure. 00:11:16.549 --> 00:11:18.710 Just like on the ice. Exactly. The same pattern. 00:11:18.889 --> 00:11:21.289 She dedicated herself. She climbed to the very 00:11:21.289 --> 00:11:23.710 top. She's right at the finish line, and the 00:11:23.710 --> 00:11:26.259 door slams shut. She maxed out. She couldn't 00:11:26.259 --> 00:11:30.679 go any higher at Vogue. So at age 38, 39, she 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.000 leaves. And this is the part that blows my mind. 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:35.960 She doesn't start her company then. She goes 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.870 to work for Ralph Lauren. Why? She has 17 years 00:11:39.870 --> 00:11:42.870 at Vogue. She knows everyone. Why not just launch 00:11:42.870 --> 00:11:45.370 Vera Wang right then? Because she knew she wasn't 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:47.870 ready. Yeah. And that is such a humble, brilliant 00:11:47.870 --> 00:11:51.129 move. She had the humility to recognize what 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:52.970 she didn't know. Which was what? She knew she 00:11:52.970 --> 00:11:55.929 had the eye from Vogue, but she didn't know the 00:11:55.929 --> 00:11:59.389 business. And nobody, and I mean nobody, knows 00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:01.570 the business of lifestyle branding better than 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:03.509 Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren isn't just selling 00:12:03.509 --> 00:12:05.789 shirts. He's selling a dream. He's selling the 00:12:05.789 --> 00:12:08.169 American aristocracy. He's selling the Hamptons, 00:12:08.169 --> 00:12:10.509 the polo ponies, the old money aesthetic. He 00:12:10.509 --> 00:12:12.970 built an entire universe. Vera Wang spent two 00:12:12.970 --> 00:12:14.710 years there as a design director for accessories. 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:17.870 So she's inside the machine. What is she learning 00:12:17.870 --> 00:12:20.200 there? She's learning about production, sourcing, 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:22.639 licensing, marketing. How do you take a single 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.700 idea, this sort of waspy elegance, and translate 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:27.740 it into a dozen different product categories? 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:32.179 Perfume, sunglasses, home goods, paint. She was 00:12:32.179 --> 00:12:34.720 watching how a massive commercial machine worked 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.360 from the inside. She was seeing how you take 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.559 a feeling and turn it into a product line that 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:41.440 sells in department stores across the country. 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.419 So Vogue was her creative education, and Ralph 00:12:44.419 --> 00:12:47.750 Lauren was her MBA. a two -year real -world MBA 00:12:47.750 --> 00:12:50.649 from the master. So by the time she resigns to 00:12:50.649 --> 00:12:53.250 start her own thing, she's 40 years old. She 00:12:53.250 --> 00:12:56.090 has 17 years of editorial experience and two 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:58.649 years of high -stakes corporate design experience. 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:01.870 She had contacts, she had taste, and she understood 00:13:01.870 --> 00:13:04.029 the market. When people ask how did she succeed 00:13:04.029 --> 00:13:06.169 so quickly when she finally launched, the answer 00:13:06.169 --> 00:13:08.570 is she didn't succeed quickly. She spent two 00:13:08.570 --> 00:13:11.610 decades preparing. That is such a powerful reframing. 00:13:11.610 --> 00:13:14.070 We love the overnight success story, but the 00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:16.470 20 -year apprenticeship story is honestly much 00:13:16.470 --> 00:13:18.870 more reassuring. It makes the success feel earned, 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:21.169 not just lucky. It's all about the prep work. 00:13:21.370 --> 00:13:24.389 So she's 40. She strikes out on her own. It's 00:13:24.389 --> 00:13:27.509 1990. She opens her first design salon at the 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:30.279 Carlisle Hotel in New York. Why bridal? Where 00:13:30.279 --> 00:13:32.399 did that idea come from? The story goes that 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.320 she was getting married herself around that time 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:37.159 and was just appalled by the options. It was 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:39.340 a gap in the market that she personally experienced. 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:43.980 What was bridal like in 1990? It was very, let's 00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:47.059 say, traditional. Think big puffy sleeves, lots 00:13:47.059 --> 00:13:50.179 of lace, sequins, a bit stuck in the 80s princess 00:13:50.179 --> 00:13:53.259 fantasy. It wasn't fashion. It was a costume 00:13:53.259 --> 00:13:55.320 you wore once. It was almost disconnected from 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.559 what was happening on the runways of Paris or 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.000 Milan. Totally disconnected. It was its own weird 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.259 little industry. It was a uniform. So what does 00:14:02.259 --> 00:14:05.220 she do differently? Vera Wang brought a fashion 00:14:05.220 --> 00:14:07.889 editor's eye to the wedding dress. She made it 00:14:07.889 --> 00:14:10.629 chic. She made it modern. She used sophisticated 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:13.009 fabrics and techniques from couture evening wear. 00:14:13.190 --> 00:14:15.549 She stripped away the excess and focused on the 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:17.389 silhouette, the drape, the architecture of the 00:14:17.389 --> 00:14:19.570 dress. She treated the bride like a woman who 00:14:19.570 --> 00:14:21.950 loves fashion, not just a prop in a wedding ceremony. 00:14:22.490 --> 00:14:25.210 Exactly. She gave him options that were elegant, 00:14:25.389 --> 00:14:27.750 a little bit sexy, modern. It was a revolution, 00:14:27.929 --> 00:14:30.149 and she made it a celebrity essential. Right. 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:32.580 We have to talk about the list because looking 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:34.539 at the source material, the list of people she 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:37.539 has dressed is basically a directory of famous 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:40.820 women from the last 30 years. It is staggering. 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:45.000 Yeah. And what strikes me is the variety. It's 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.019 not just one type of celebrity. This is key to 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:50.559 her strategy. OK, let's break it down. You have 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.950 the political royalty. She dressed Chelsea Clinton. 00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:56.769 She dressed Corena Gore. Daughters of the president 00:14:56.769 --> 00:14:59.250 and vice president. That's a huge stamp of approval. 00:14:59.490 --> 00:15:01.529 And then on the other side of the aisle, she 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:04.169 dressed Ivanka Trump. Right. So she's bipartisan. 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:06.429 She's dressing the daughters of the powerful 00:15:06.429 --> 00:15:09.429 regardless of party. That signals establishment. 00:15:09.529 --> 00:15:12.049 That signals class. That tells the wealthy mothers 00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:14.529 on the Upper East Side, this is safe. This is 00:15:14.529 --> 00:15:16.549 appropriate. It's the ultimate status symbol. 00:15:16.629 --> 00:15:19.590 But then... Look at the pop stars. Totally different 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:23.149 world. Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys. Avril Lavigne. 00:15:23.509 --> 00:15:27.850 Avril Lavigne. The punk pop princess. And even 00:15:27.850 --> 00:15:30.830 the Spice Girls' Victoria Beckham wore Vera for 00:15:30.830 --> 00:15:33.629 her wedding to David Beckham, which was basically 00:15:33.629 --> 00:15:36.250 a royal wedding for pop culture. That's a completely 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:38.149 different vibe. That's rock and roll. That's 00:15:38.149 --> 00:15:40.230 diva. That's edge. It's not the same message 00:15:40.230 --> 00:15:44.059 as dressing a first daughter. Not at all. And 00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:46.120 then you have the Hollywood A -listers. Sarah 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:48.139 Michelle Gellar at the height of her Buffy fame. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:52.860 Hilary Duff. Vanessa Hudgens. The young Hollywood 00:15:52.860 --> 00:15:55.600 set. And we can't forget the reality TV era. 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:57.659 This is where it gets really interesting. She 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:00.019 dressed Kim Kardashian and Khloe Kardashian. 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:02.559 For their weddings, which were massive media 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.179 events. And this is a huge pivot in itself. A 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:07.679 lot of high fashion designers at that time turned 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.679 their noses up at reality stars. We saw it as 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:11.320 cheapening their brand. They didn't want to be 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:12.940 associated with that world. They thought it was 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:16.220 tacky. Vera Wang didn't. She understood that 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:18.399 these women were the new icons of influence. 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:21.639 She saw the future. It's genius. If you are a 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:23.820 conservative bride from an old money family, 00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:26.360 you see Chelsea Clinton and think, Vera Wang 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:30.559 is classy. If you are a trendy bride who follows 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.080 pop culture, you see Kim Kardashian and think, 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.740 Vera Wang is hot. She managed to be everything 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:39.440 to everyone. And that celebrity dressing extended 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:41.700 to the red carpet, too. She wasn't just doing 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:44.360 weddings. She proved she was a major fashion 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.379 force, period. She dressed Michelle Obama. A 00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:49.559 first lady? A sitting first lady. That's another 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.159 level of validation. And then she had these huge 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:55.039 Oscar moments, like dressing Viola Davis in that 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.360 stunning emerald green gown in 2012. Or Sofia 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:01.159 Vergara at the Emmys. She proved she could do 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:03.820 color. She could do evening wear. She could do 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:06.250 serious fashion. But here is where it gets really 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:08.230 interesting for me from a business perspective. 00:17:08.369 --> 00:17:10.730 Because usually when a luxury brand gets this 00:17:10.730 --> 00:17:12.849 big, when it's dressing first ladies and movie 00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:15.970 stars, they guard that exclusivity with their 00:17:15.970 --> 00:17:17.710 lives. Oh, absolutely. They don't want normal 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:19.390 people wearing their stuff because they think 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:21.829 it dilutes the brand. That is the standard luxury 00:17:21.829 --> 00:17:25.049 playbook. Scarcity creates value. If everyone 00:17:25.049 --> 00:17:27.509 can have it, nobody wants it. You want the consumer 00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:29.349 to feel like they are part of a special club? 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.799 the velvet rope effect vera wang took that playbook 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:35.259 and threw it out the window she lit it on fire 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:38.660 she mastered the art of what we call mastige 00:17:38.660 --> 00:17:41.920 mass prestige mass prestige explain that she 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:44.259 figured out how to sell the dream of vera wang 00:17:44.259 --> 00:17:47.240 to people who could never afford a ten thousand 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:50.920 dollar custom gown she built an on -ramp to her 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:53.960 brand let's look at the deals because they are 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:57.380 massive first David's Bridal. This was a game 00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:00.799 changer. In 2011, she launches White by Vera 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.619 Wang at David's Bridal. Now, for people who don't 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:05.900 know, David's Bridal is a huge national chain. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:08.099 It's accessible. It's affordable. It's where 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:10.700 most of America buys their wedding dresses. Exactly. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.619 And now, suddenly, you can get a Vera Wang design 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:17.740 gown for $600 to $1 ,400. That is a fraction 00:18:17.740 --> 00:18:20.359 of the cost of her couture line. But did it hurt 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:22.180 her couture sales? Didn't the millionaire client 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:24.079 say, wait, my dress is from the same designer 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.140 who sells at David's Bridal? That was the fear. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:27.980 That was what everyone in the industry predicted 00:18:27.980 --> 00:18:30.539 would happen. But it didn't. Not at all. Why 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:33.720 not? Because she was smart about it. The white 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:36.859 line had her design DNA. The clean lines. The 00:18:36.859 --> 00:18:39.119 elegant fabrics. But it's clearly a different 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.660 product. The couture product was still handmade 00:18:41.660 --> 00:18:44.240 in her New York at -the -day with the finest 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.440 materials. The David's Bridal line was produced 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:50.819 at scale. The customer for the $15 ,000 dress 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:53.160 knew they were getting something different than 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:55.740 the customer for the $1 ,000 dress. So she created 00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:58.339 a firewall between the two. A clear firewall. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.940 And what the deal did was make Vera Wang a household 00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:05.220 name in every suburb in America. It meant that 00:19:05.220 --> 00:19:07.759 a bride in Kansas with a modest budget could 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.269 still say, I'm wearing Vera. It democratized 00:19:11.269 --> 00:19:13.009 the name without cheapening the core product. 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.190 And she didn't stop there. The next move was 00:19:15.190 --> 00:19:17.470 even bolder. She went to Kohl's. Kohl's? I mean, 00:19:17.470 --> 00:19:19.009 no offense to Kohl's, but it's a department store 00:19:19.009 --> 00:19:20.789 chain known for discounts and practical family 00:19:20.789 --> 00:19:23.309 clothes. It's not the Carlisle Hotel. Not by 00:19:23.309 --> 00:19:25.309 a long shot. When I saw Simply Vera launched 00:19:25.309 --> 00:19:28.029 at Kohl's in 2006, I remember thinking, wait, 00:19:28.089 --> 00:19:29.910 isn't she the lady who makes dresses for Sharon 00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:31.630 Stone? What is she doing next to the toaster 00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:35.470 ovens? It was considered heresy by the fashion 00:19:35.470 --> 00:19:39.190 elite. They were horrified. In the fashion industry, 00:19:39.410 --> 00:19:42.789 exclusivity is the currency. You do not want 00:19:42.789 --> 00:19:44.829 your logo in the discount bin. It's supposed 00:19:44.829 --> 00:19:47.549 to be terrifying for a luxury brand. So why did 00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:50.500 she do it? Was she desperate for cash? No, she 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:52.839 was visionary. She understood something that 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:55.359 most of her peers didn't. The woman buying the 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:57.460 $10 ,000 wedding dress and the woman buying the 00:19:57.460 --> 00:20:01.720 $40 cardigan at Kohl's. Sometimes that is the 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.059 same woman. Or at least they aspire to the same 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:06.779 aesthetic. Exactly. The wealthy woman buying 00:20:06.779 --> 00:20:09.420 couture still needs a black t -shirt. And the 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:11.799 woman on a budget still wants to feel elegant 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.730 and sophisticated. She gave them an entry point. 00:20:14.849 --> 00:20:16.990 It's creating a brand ladder. A perfect way to 00:20:16.990 --> 00:20:19.190 put it. She gave women a piece of that high fashion 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:21.509 magic. Maybe just a cardigan or a pair of sunglasses 00:20:21.509 --> 00:20:23.890 or a set of bed sheets at a price they could 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:26.670 justify on a Tuesday afternoon. And from a business 00:20:26.670 --> 00:20:29.309 standpoint, the volume at Kohl's is astronomical. 00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:31.630 The math is staggering. You sell one couture 00:20:31.630 --> 00:20:34.230 dress for $10 ,000 or you sell a million t -shirts 00:20:34.230 --> 00:20:37.970 for $20. The t -shirts win every time. That licensing 00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:40.509 revenue, the money coming in from Kohl's, from 00:20:40.509 --> 00:20:43.089 David's Bridal, from the mattresses and the eyewear 00:20:43.089 --> 00:20:45.569 and the fragrances, that cash flow is what allowed 00:20:45.569 --> 00:20:47.369 her to keep the couture business independent 00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:51.130 for so long. The $40 cardigans subsidized the 00:20:51.130 --> 00:20:53.369 art. It's the Medici model, but instead of a 00:20:53.369 --> 00:20:55.509 bank, it's a department store funding the art. 00:20:55.609 --> 00:20:57.849 It's brilliant. And she even hit the menswear 00:20:57.849 --> 00:21:00.289 market. She partnered with Men's Warehouse in 00:21:00.289 --> 00:21:03.690 2012 for tuxedo rentals. So now the groom is 00:21:03.690 --> 00:21:06.470 wearing Vera, too. She built a lifestyle empire. 00:21:07.490 --> 00:21:10.910 fragrance, jewelry, eyewear, china, crystal. 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:14.210 You could eat off Vera Wang plates, wear Vera 00:21:14.210 --> 00:21:17.869 Wang glasses, spray Vera Wang perfume, and sleep 00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:20.549 on Vera Wang sheets. It sounds exhausting, honestly. 00:21:20.789 --> 00:21:22.990 Managing all those partnerships, keeping the 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:24.789 quality control, making sure the kohl sweater 00:21:24.789 --> 00:21:26.529 doesn't look too cheap, while making sure the 00:21:26.529 --> 00:21:28.950 couture dress looks expensive enough. It is incredibly 00:21:28.950 --> 00:21:31.150 difficult, and she's been open about that. There 00:21:31.150 --> 00:21:33.730 was this interview she did with CBS in 2013 where 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:36.089 she actually described the transition from journalist 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:38.990 to businesswoman as painful. Painful. That's 00:21:38.990 --> 00:21:41.269 a strong word for someone who is making millions. 00:21:41.349 --> 00:21:43.309 What did she mean by that? She talked about the 00:21:43.309 --> 00:21:45.950 loss of innocence. When you were just starting. 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:49.079 Or when you are a creative, you feel free. You 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.000 just want to make beautiful things. You're thinking 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:53.900 about art. But as you grow, you realize the weight 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:56.000 of your decisions. She had this great quote about 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.400 the difference between micro and macro work. 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:00.339 Oh, I remember this. She said she makes decisions 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:02.920 that are micro, like a centimeter of proportion 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.160 on a dress, and decisions that are macro, which 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.859 impact the lives of her employees. That is the 00:22:08.859 --> 00:22:10.740 burden of the founder. You have to care about 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:12.859 the hemline. Because that's the product, that's 00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:14.660 the art. But you also have to care about the 00:22:14.660 --> 00:22:17.500 supply chain, the HR policies, the retail contracts. 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:19.819 Because if you mess those up, people lose their 00:22:19.819 --> 00:22:22.440 jobs. Families are affected. It's a massive mental 00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:25.500 load. The artist versus the CEO. And she had 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:28.759 to be both for over 30 years. And clearly she 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:32.539 carried it well. By 2018, Forbes ranked her 34th 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:34.680 on the list of America's richest self -made women. 00:22:35.309 --> 00:22:38.210 They cited her revenue at $630 million that year. 00:22:38.329 --> 00:22:41.890 From zero to $630 million, starting at age 40. 00:22:42.109 --> 00:22:44.490 It is just an incredible trajectory. But even 00:22:44.490 --> 00:22:46.609 with all this business success, all the red carpets 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:49.009 and the polls cash, she never really let go of 00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:51.690 that first love, did she? No. The ice kept calling 00:22:51.690 --> 00:22:54.750 her back. It really did. And I find this part 00:22:54.750 --> 00:22:57.910 of her story so poetic. It's the ultimate full 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:00.210 circle moment. She couldn't go to the Olympics 00:23:00.210 --> 00:23:03.400 as an athlete. That door was closed. So she found 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:05.559 a way to go to the Olympics anyway. By dressing 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.039 the champions. Exactly. If you follow figure 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:11.200 skating, you know that the costume is a huge 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.089 part of the performance. It has to look beautiful, 00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:16.589 yes. It has to catch the light. It has to tell 00:23:16.589 --> 00:23:19.009 a story. But it also has to be high -performance 00:23:19.009 --> 00:23:21.349 athletic gear. Right. It can't just be pretty. 00:23:21.549 --> 00:23:23.970 It has to stretch. It has to breathe. You can't 00:23:23.970 --> 00:23:26.930 rip when you do a triple axel. It has to be aerodynamic. 00:23:27.210 --> 00:23:29.369 It's a piece of engineering. Who better to understand 00:23:29.369 --> 00:23:32.769 that than a former elite skater who is also a 00:23:32.769 --> 00:23:35.049 world -class designer? She speaks both languages. 00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:37.930 She knows where the seams will rub. She knows 00:23:37.930 --> 00:23:40.700 how the skirt will move in a spin. She understands 00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:42.900 the athlete's needs in a way that a pure fashion 00:23:42.900 --> 00:23:46.339 designer never could. It's the perfect synthesis 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.180 of her two lives. We saw her designs on Nancy 00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:52.819 Kerrigan in 1992 and 1994. The iconic looks. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:56.220 The white dress at the 94 Olympics, the one with 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.200 the sheer black sleeves for the short program, 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.140 they defined an era of skating elegance. Then 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:05.089 Michelle Kwan in 1998 and 2002. Kwan was known 00:24:05.089 --> 00:24:08.009 for her artistry, and Wang's costumes just elevated 00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:10.450 that. They were breathtaking. Then she moves 00:24:10.450 --> 00:24:13.650 to the man Evan Lysacek in 2010. He won the gold 00:24:13.650 --> 00:24:16.190 medal in a Vera Wang costume that had this sort 00:24:16.190 --> 00:24:18.349 of snake -like design on it. Yeah. Very dramatic. 00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:21.349 And more recently, Nathan Chen in 2018 and 2022, 00:24:21.730 --> 00:24:24.289 his looks were much more modern, more athletic, 00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:26.369 like a cool t -shirt. Which shows her evolution. 00:24:26.750 --> 00:24:29.089 She didn't just keep making the same frilly dresses. 00:24:29.329 --> 00:24:31.609 She adapted to the sports -changing aesthetic. 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:34.299 She's been dressing Olympic skaters for 30 years. 00:24:34.460 --> 00:24:37.039 And getting recognition for it. In 2009, she 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.460 was inducted into the U .S. Figure Skating Hall 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:42.380 of Fame. Not as a skater, but as a costume designer. 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:44.240 Can you imagine what that must have felt like? 00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:47.160 That has to feel incredible. To stand in that 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.299 Hall of Fame, the place you wanted to be when 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:51.759 you were a devastated teenager, and arrive there 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.259 on your own terms in a completely different role, 00:24:54.420 --> 00:24:56.660 having built an entire empire in the meantime. 00:24:57.289 --> 00:24:59.690 It's validation. It proves that the failure back 00:24:59.690 --> 00:25:02.849 in 1968 wasn't the end of the story. It was just 00:25:02.849 --> 00:25:04.730 a plot twist. It was a thing that forced her 00:25:04.730 --> 00:25:06.750 onto the path she was meant to be on. Speaking 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:09.369 of plot twists, let's fast forward to the more 00:25:09.369 --> 00:25:12.230 recent years. Because it hasn't all been smooth 00:25:12.230 --> 00:25:15.849 sailing. Even legends stumble. And sometimes 00:25:15.849 --> 00:25:18.170 literally. You are talking about the Spring Summer 00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:21.880 2020 show. Yeah. This was September 2019. It 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:24.160 was her big return to the runway after a two 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:26.279 -year hiatus. It was the 30th anniversary of 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:29.380 the brand. The anticipation was huge. And the 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:31.420 clothes. The clothes were actually reviewed very 00:25:31.420 --> 00:25:34.660 well. The critics called them beautiful and seriously 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:37.660 designed. Bridget fully loved them. Gadridini 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:40.799 says she has a distinctive fashion DNA. So creatively, 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:43.059 she delivered. But nobody was talking about the 00:25:43.059 --> 00:25:44.140 clothes the next day. They were talking about 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:47.119 the shoes. The shoes were a disaster, an absolute 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.160 catastrophe. They were these incredibly high 00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:51.960 angled heels. They looked almost like stilts. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.519 And on the runway, four different models fell 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:58.640 down. Four models. That is chaos. Yeah. It completely 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.980 derails the show. The focus shifts from the clothes 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:04.980 to the drama. Including Fei -Fei Sun, who is 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:07.259 a top pro. She's one of the best walkers in the 00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:10.539 business. And she fell twice in a row. It was 00:26:10.539 --> 00:26:12.680 a mess. It was painful to watch. And the press 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:14.900 can be brutal when that happens. It's seen as 00:26:14.900 --> 00:26:17.259 a sign of disrespect to the models that the designer 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:20.569 prioritized a look over safety. Vanessa Friedman 00:26:20.569 --> 00:26:22.609 from the New York Times didn't hold back. She 00:26:22.609 --> 00:26:25.849 wrote, and this is a direct quote, in 2019, no 00:26:25.849 --> 00:26:28.390 woman should be tortured by what she wears. Ouch. 00:26:28.589 --> 00:26:31.109 That stings, especially for a designer who prides 00:26:31.109 --> 00:26:33.789 herself on empowering women. It does. But I think 00:26:33.789 --> 00:26:35.369 it's important to include this in the deep dive 00:26:35.369 --> 00:26:36.970 because it shows that even at the top of your 00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:39.430 game, after 30 years, you can make a mistake. 00:26:39.690 --> 00:26:42.289 You can push an idea too far. The fashion industry 00:26:42.289 --> 00:26:45.109 is high risk. A live runway show is a high wire 00:26:45.109 --> 00:26:47.630 act. Sometimes you fall. But she bounced back, 00:26:47.670 --> 00:26:51.380 of course. She always does. Which brings us to 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:54.640 the massive news that dropped in December 2024. 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:58.119 The sale. This is the capstone of the business 00:26:58.119 --> 00:27:01.319 arc. After 35 years of independence, which is 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:03.720 rare in fashion, by the way, most brands get 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:07.519 bought up much earlier. Vera Wang sold her company. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:09.720 Who bought it and what does that mean? A brand 00:27:09.720 --> 00:27:13.279 management firm called WHP Global. They acquired 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:16.559 the intellectual property. The IP of the Vera 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:19.039 Wang brand. Okay, so unpack intellectual property. 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:20.940 Does that mean they own the name, the logos? 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:23.039 Exactly. They own the name Vera Wang. They control 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:25.940 the brand. So did she just cash out and retire 00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:27.880 to a beach? That's what I was wondering. No, 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:29.400 and that's the interesting part of the deal. 00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:32.380 The terms are very specific. She stays on as 00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:34.960 the founder and chief creative officer, and she 00:27:34.960 --> 00:27:38.299 becomes a shareholder in WHP Global. So she sold 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:40.500 the name, but she kept the job? She sold the 00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:42.420 business infrastructure, the operational headaches, 00:27:42.619 --> 00:27:45.210 but she kept the creative control. She's still 00:27:45.210 --> 00:27:48.049 a visionary. It's a move to ensure the legacy 00:27:48.049 --> 00:27:51.109 outlasts her. By bringing in a massive management 00:27:51.109 --> 00:27:54.750 firm like WHP, which owns brands like Anne Klein 00:27:54.750 --> 00:27:58.769 and Toys R Us, she ensures that Vera Wang, the 00:27:58.769 --> 00:28:03.170 brand, can exist for 50, 100 years, just like 00:28:03.170 --> 00:28:06.000 Chanel or Dior. They have the capital and the 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.160 global infrastructure to keep it going. It's 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:10.559 the ultimate move for immortality. She's ensuring 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:12.859 the name on the door stays there, even when she's 00:28:12.859 --> 00:28:14.619 not the one walking through it anymore. And in 00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:16.319 the meantime, she gets to keep doing the part 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:19.700 she loves, the design, without maybe having to 00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:21.779 worry quite as much about the boring back -end 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:24.319 stuff like supply chains and retail leases. It 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:26.200 reminds me of what happened to Hauston or Donna 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:29.059 Karan, where they sold and then lost control 00:28:29.059 --> 00:28:30.920 of their own names. They were eventually pushed 00:28:30.920 --> 00:28:33.940 out. A classic tragic story in fashion. It seems 00:28:33.940 --> 00:28:36.440 like Vera studied those failures and found a 00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:38.460 better way. She always studies the failures. 00:28:38.700 --> 00:28:41.740 That's her superpower, her own and others. She 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:43.640 saw how other designers lost their identities 00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:45.759 after selling, and she structured a deal where 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.539 she stays in the driver's seat creatively. Let's 00:28:48.539 --> 00:28:51.339 pivot a bit to her place in the culture, because 00:28:51.339 --> 00:28:53.859 Vera Wang isn't just a business. She's a pop 00:28:53.859 --> 00:28:56.339 culture character. She pops up everywhere. She 00:28:56.339 --> 00:28:58.970 really does. She's a touchstone. A shorthand 00:28:58.970 --> 00:29:01.809 for luxury and aspiration. If you watch the West 00:29:01.809 --> 00:29:04.130 Wing, they reference her gowns as the pinnacle 00:29:04.130 --> 00:29:07.069 of style. And sex in the city. Both the show 00:29:07.069 --> 00:29:09.710 and the movie. Charlotte York's first wedding 00:29:09.710 --> 00:29:12.210 dress had to be a Vera. When it gets ruined, 00:29:12.349 --> 00:29:14.809 it's a huge plot point. Right. And in the movie, 00:29:14.990 --> 00:29:18.609 Carrie Bradshaw models a Vera Wang gown for her 00:29:18.609 --> 00:29:22.019 Vogue shoot. It's the ultimate fantasy. And she's 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:24.180 not afraid to play herself. She was in Gossip 00:29:24.180 --> 00:29:26.759 Girl. She was in Ugly Betty. She was in the documentary, 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.480 The September Issue. She has a sense of humor 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:32.039 about her own icon status. She understands her 00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:33.980 brand. She knows she's a character in the cultural 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:36.579 narrative. She even designed the uniforms for 00:29:36.579 --> 00:29:38.759 the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders. Which is 00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:40.680 just another example of that high -low range 00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:43.240 we talked about. She can do the Oscars. She can 00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:45.599 do the NFL sideline. And she can do a cold sweater. 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:47.299 It's all part of the same universe. Nothing is 00:29:47.299 --> 00:29:49.420 off limits. We should touch briefly on the... 00:29:49.450 --> 00:29:52.069 personal side just to round out the picture we 00:29:52.069 --> 00:29:54.470 know she was married for a long time she married 00:29:54.470 --> 00:29:57.569 arthur becker in 1989 right before she launched 00:29:57.569 --> 00:30:01.170 her brand it was an interfaith ceremony baptist 00:30:01.170 --> 00:30:04.789 and jewish they adopted two daughters cecilia 00:30:04.789 --> 00:30:07.289 and josephine they were a new york power couple 00:30:07.289 --> 00:30:09.930 for a long time but they separated in 2012 they 00:30:09.930 --> 00:30:12.789 did but by all accounts it was amicable And they 00:30:12.789 --> 00:30:14.890 continued to co -parent and even work together 00:30:14.890 --> 00:30:17.410 on some business ventures. And there's one odd 00:30:17.410 --> 00:30:19.089 little detail in the source material that I feel 00:30:19.089 --> 00:30:21.309 like we have to mention just for accuracy, even 00:30:21.309 --> 00:30:22.990 though it's a bit random. You mean the Epstein 00:30:22.990 --> 00:30:25.109 connection? Yeah. It's in the records. It is. 00:30:25.210 --> 00:30:28.490 In 2003, she contributed a greeting to a birthday 00:30:28.490 --> 00:30:31.769 book for Jeffrey Epstein. She made a joke about 00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:34.309 him appearing on The Bachelor. It's one of those. 00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:37.009 Weird historical footnotes that shows up when 00:30:37.009 --> 00:30:39.329 you dig into the social circles of New York's 00:30:39.329 --> 00:30:42.049 elite in the early 2000s. Right. It doesn't seem 00:30:42.049 --> 00:30:43.910 to be more than that, but it's a data point. 00:30:43.990 --> 00:30:46.130 It shows everyone was in the same rooms at the 00:30:46.130 --> 00:30:48.410 same parties. Exactly. It's just there in the 00:30:48.410 --> 00:30:50.910 record. But moving back to her professional recognition. 00:30:51.470 --> 00:30:54.190 She has been showered with awards. Rightfully 00:30:54.190 --> 00:30:56.789 so. The CFDA, the Council of Fashion Designers 00:30:56.789 --> 00:30:58.809 of America, gave her the Lifetime Achievement 00:30:58.809 --> 00:31:01.630 Award in 2013. That's the highest honor in American 00:31:01.630 --> 00:31:04.170 fashion. She received the National Medal of Arts 00:31:04.170 --> 00:31:07.329 in 2021 from the president. She was on the BBC's 00:31:07.329 --> 00:31:10.890 100 Women list. She is, by every metric, one 00:31:10.890 --> 00:31:12.829 of the most successful American designers of 00:31:12.829 --> 00:31:14.670 all time. So let's try to pull all this together. 00:31:14.789 --> 00:31:17.690 We started this deep dive talking about a wedding 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:21.670 dress. A single, perfect white dress. But we've 00:31:21.670 --> 00:31:24.289 uncovered so much more. We have. We have the 00:31:24.289 --> 00:31:26.950 story of a heartbroken skater who learned how 00:31:26.950 --> 00:31:30.150 to get back up. A diligent editor who worked 00:31:30.150 --> 00:31:33.170 for 17 years before getting her big break. A 00:31:33.170 --> 00:31:35.309 40 -year -old startup founder who wasn't afraid 00:31:35.309 --> 00:31:38.650 to start late. And a savvy businesswoman who 00:31:38.650 --> 00:31:40.730 figured out how to sell luxury to the masses 00:31:40.730 --> 00:31:43.190 without destroying her brand's mystique. It's 00:31:43.190 --> 00:31:45.769 the power of the second act. Or maybe the third 00:31:45.769 --> 00:31:47.589 act or the fourth. I think that's the so what 00:31:47.589 --> 00:31:50.250 here. Vera Wang represents the idea that your 00:31:50.250 --> 00:31:52.269 first dream doesn't have to be your only dream. 00:31:52.410 --> 00:31:55.230 Your first failure doesn't define you. You can 00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:57.730 be devastated at 19 because you missed the Olympics 00:31:57.730 --> 00:31:59.730 and you can still end up a billionaire icon. 00:32:00.220 --> 00:32:03.180 The path isn't linear. And she proves that technical 00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:05.339 expertise, whether it's the discipline of skating 00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:08.759 or the eye of an art historian, can be monetized 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.599 in ways you never expect. Who knew that knowing 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:14.279 art history would help you sell tuxedos at men's 00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:17.160 warehouse? But it did. It all connects. Everything 00:32:17.160 --> 00:32:20.240 is material. Nothing is wasted. That's the lesson. 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:22.779 All those hours on the ice, all those years in 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:25.380 the Vogue closet. It all paid off. I want to 00:32:25.380 --> 00:32:26.920 leave our listeners with a thought about that 00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:29.779 2024 sale. We mentioned that she sold her IP 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:32.859 but kept her job. In an era where founders are 00:32:32.859 --> 00:32:34.980 often the brand, think of Elon Musk or Martha 00:32:34.980 --> 00:32:36.640 Stewart, where the person is inseparable from 00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:40.019 the company, it raises a question. Can a brand 00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:42.519 like Vera Wang truly exist without the woman 00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:45.759 herself? Was the sale a savvy business move or 00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:47.980 was it the first step in the brand losing its 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:50.420 soul? That is the billion -dollar question. Can 00:32:50.420 --> 00:32:53.789 you separate the creator from the creation? Coco 00:32:53.789 --> 00:32:55.990 Chanel has been gone for decades, but the brand 00:32:55.990 --> 00:32:57.829 is stronger than ever. Can Vera achieve that? 00:32:58.009 --> 00:33:00.789 Or was this sale the ultimate move to ensure 00:33:00.789 --> 00:33:03.069 that the name becomes bigger than the person? 00:33:03.410 --> 00:33:06.390 To finally achieve a kind of corporate immortality 00:33:06.390 --> 00:33:09.069 that eluded her on the ice? I think she's betting 00:33:09.069 --> 00:33:11.450 that it is. She's betting on the strength of 00:33:11.450 --> 00:33:14.589 the name she built over 75 years. Yeah. She seems 00:33:14.589 --> 00:33:17.140 to think you can. and she's betting her legacy 00:33:17.140 --> 00:33:19.799 on it. A fascinating case study in reinvention. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:22.059 Whether you are prepping for a wedding, training 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:23.640 for a sport, or just thinking about a career 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:25.960 change at 40, there is something in the Vera 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:28.700 Wang story for you. Absolutely. Never stop pivoting. 00:33:28.980 --> 00:33:31.420 Thanks for diving deep with us today. Keep learning, 00:33:31.579 --> 00:33:33.579 stay curious, and we will see you on the next 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:33.759 one.