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 that features her trademark bridal gowns.
Wang has made wedding gowns for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, Ivanka Trump, Thalía, Jessica Simpson, Avril Lavigne, Victoria Beckham, Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Garner, Sharon Stone, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Uma Thurman, Holly Hunter, Campbell Brown, Danielle Jonas Jeri Ryan, Kate Hudson, and Karenna Gore, among various other celebrities.
She has designed costumes for figure skaters, including Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan and Evan Lysacek. Silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan wore a unique design of Vera's for the 1994 Olympics. She designed the two-piece uniforms currently worn by the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders.
In the Sex and the City TV series, Charolotte York found Wang's wedding dress to be the perfect wedding dress, and wore it for her wedding to Trey MacDougal.In Sex and the City movie, Vera Wang was featured amongst the bridal gowns Carrie Bradshaw wore in her Vogue photo shoot.
Wang has expanded her brand name through her fragrance, jewelry, eyewear, shoe and houseware collections. On October 23, 2001, her book, Vera Wang on Weddings, was released. In June 2005, she won the CFDA (Council of 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.
In 2002, Vera Wang began to enter the home fashion industry and launched The Vera Wang China and Crystal Collection, followed by the 2007 release of her diffusion line called Simply Vera Vera Wang, which are sold exclusively by Kohl's.
