Characterisitics of Business Leadership: Vera Wang
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: VERA WANG
Describe the business leader’s primary business or businesses, highlighting how the leader got started and analyze the leader’s three (3) major business challenges in establishing and/or running the company.
Vera Wang began her career in the fashion industry in 1971, working her way up the corporate ladder to Senior Editor for Vogue. In 1987, she began working for Ralph Lauren, dealing primarily with accessories.
In 1987, out of frustration with the lack of options to suit her sophisticated taste, she designed her own wedding gown, commissioning a seamstress to assemble it. This inspired her to launch Vera Wang Bridal House Ltd., in the Carlisle Hotel on Madison Avenue, New York City.
Her primary target was upper class clientel, initially offering bridal gowns by designers such as Guy Laroche, Arnold Scaasi, Christian Dior and Carolina Herrena. Her background spawned her birth as a real player into the fashion world: the discipline she learned from competitive ice skating; the trips to Paris for fashion shows with her mother, as a child; her high-priced education; the mentors she acquired during her career at Vogue and with Ralph Lauren, who broadened her knowledge of fashion. Her background and understanding for the need to fill a niche, in the fashion industry, fuels her passion for designing elegant apparel.
Challenge No. 1: Her father removed the burden of start-up costs by giving her $4 million to begin her venture. $1 million was invested to redecorate the two story soon-to-be boutique, while she and her right hand man, Chet Hazzard, sold bridal gowns from a hotel suite, in 1990.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: VERA WANG
In a relatively short amount of time, Vera Wang was custom designing bridal gowns for a market of wealthy clients.
Challenge No. 2: Upon the opening of her bridal boutique, Vogue ran a six page spread about Mrs. Wang. This reduced the burden of initial marketing/advertising for
Describe the business leader’s primary business or businesses, highlighting how the leader got started and analyze the leader’s three (3) major business challenges in establishing and/or running the company.
Vera Wang began her career in the fashion industry in 1971, working her way up the corporate ladder to Senior Editor for Vogue. In 1987, she began working for Ralph Lauren, dealing primarily with accessories.
In 1987, out of frustration with the lack of options to suit her sophisticated taste, she designed her own wedding gown, commissioning a seamstress to assemble it. This inspired her to launch Vera Wang Bridal House Ltd., in the Carlisle Hotel on Madison Avenue, New York City.
Her primary target was upper class clientel, initially offering bridal gowns by designers such as Guy Laroche, Arnold Scaasi, Christian Dior and Carolina Herrena. Her background spawned her birth as a real player into the fashion world: the discipline she learned from competitive ice skating; the trips to Paris for fashion shows with her mother, as a child; her high-priced education; the mentors she acquired during her career at Vogue and with Ralph Lauren, who broadened her knowledge of fashion. Her background and understanding for the need to fill a niche, in the fashion industry, fuels her passion for designing elegant apparel.
Challenge No. 1: Her father removed the burden of start-up costs by giving her $4 million to begin her venture. $1 million was invested to redecorate the two story soon-to-be boutique, while she and her right hand man, Chet Hazzard, sold bridal gowns from a hotel suite, in 1990.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: VERA WANG
In a relatively short amount of time, Vera Wang was custom designing bridal gowns for a market of wealthy clients.
Challenge No. 2: Upon the opening of her bridal boutique, Vogue ran a six page spread about Mrs. Wang. This reduced the burden of initial marketing/advertising for
References: (2011), A&E Television Networks, Vera Wang. biography http://www.biography.com/people/vera-wang-9542398 (2011), InfoMat, Inc., Vera Wang Fashion Designer http://www.infomat.com/whoswho/verawang.html http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/businesses/M-Z/Vera-Wang-Bridal-House-Ltd.html#b (April 13, 2011), Knowledge@ Wharton, 'The Democratization of Fashion ': William Fung and Vera Wang on the Implications of Going Global http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2752 (May 4, 2009), My Financial Times, Leadership Secrets of Successful CEO’s Ray A. Smith, (September 17, 2010), The Wall Street Journal, Vera Wang’s Idea of Empire: Marry High, Low and In Between http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597204575483643246884082.html Samantha Critchell, (October 27, 2010), The Times Leader, Vera Wang: 20 Tips Learned over 20 Years http://www.timesleader.com/features/Vera-Wang-20-tips-learned-over-20-years-.html