A woman can be an athlete; she can be a classic, traditional individual; she can be vampish. Any or all these personality traits can be part of the same woman.
A woman is never sexier than when she is comfortable in her clothes.
All those years of skating and dancing have carried over. I can't design anything without thinking of how a woman's body will look and move when she's wearing it.
As the mother of two daughters, I have great respect for women. And I don't ever want to lose that.
Clothes are my passion and my knowledge. I've studied fashion from every angle-historically and critically, cerebrally and emotionally.
Don't be afraid to take time to learn. It's good to work for other people. I worked for others for 20 years. They paid me to learn.
Fashion offers no greater challenge than finding what works for night without looking like you are wearing a costume.
I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes, where a woman's personality and sense of self are revealed. I want people to see the dress, but focus on the woman.
I find it a wonderful challenge to give interviews after spending all those years backstage. I always try to be honest and real.
I see myself as a true modernist. Even when I do a traditional gown, I give it a modern twist. I go to the past for research. I need to know what came before so I can break the rules.
I wanted to define the vocabulary of a wedding both visually and intellectually. The book is about more than weddings or wedding dresses. It's a metaphor for women's lives, their creativity.
I work with structure, but I go outside the box and give it my own spin. I adore the challenge of creating truly modern clothes - where a woman's personality and sense of style are realized.
I'm fascinated by people and emotions. I'm an avid viewer of the Biography channel.
I'm obsessed with details and how they relate to the wearer. I visualize women. I do this with all my products.
I've been designing since I was 8. I started sketching dresses I could wear when skating. I was always involved in all aspects of skating, not just the technique, the choreography, the music, but the visual aspects, too - what I should wear.
It's a remarkable exercise to sit and look at you own work over the years.
It's for all the women who embrace my aesthetic, but can't afford a Vera Wang dress. If women can get anything out of it - a little bit of me or a lot of me, that's what's important.
Look at Anna Wintour. Those oversize sunglasses she wears have become a part of her identity.
My mother, who is now 84, was the old-fashioned definition of a clotheshorse, much like Babe Paley or Jackie O. She used clothes to express herself. And she always encouraged me to pursue art forms to express myself.
Polarization and other lens technologies took eyewear to a whole new plane in the '90s.
The magic is in weightless clothes. Cutting armholes that add grace, exposing the best parts and sensuously draping fabric over less fabulous ones... to allow a woman to feel secure while being totally comfortable.
To me, eyewear goes way beyond being a prescription. It's like makeup. It's the most incredible accessory. The shape of a frame or the color of lenses can change your whole appearance.
When I decided to get married at 40, I couldn't find a dress with the modernity or sophistication I wanted. That's when I saw the opportunity for a wedding gown business.
When I design a wedding dress with a bustle, it has to be one the bride can dance in. I love the idea that something is practical and still looks great.
You don't have to be wealthy to have three or four... women collect eyewear these days like they collect handbags.
She has designed dresses for Avril Lavigne, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez and for skaters like Michelle Kwan.
In June 2005, she won the CFDA or the Council of the Fashion Designers of America, women's wear Designer of the Year.
In 1990, she opened her own design salon in the Carlyle Hotel in New York which featured her trademark bridal gowns.
She appears as a guest judge in the third season of Project Runway.
Vera trained as a figure skater which she competed at the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships but didn't make the team.
Vera's father started and owned a chemical company.
Vera attended the Chapin School, the Sorbonne in Paris and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in art history.
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