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Updated: November 9, 2009, 11:28 am	Share    Print    Email

Pamela Fiori in Vera Wang jacket and necklace poses with Vera Wang in front of Wang's exhibit at Guild Hall. Photos by Andrea Aurichio

East Hampton - "Fashion today is all about the mix," Vera Wang said. "It's about mixing the expensive with the inexpensive, the casual with the dressy." The audience at Guild Hall in East Hampton nodded. It was a Saturday morning in October and it was pouring outside. The foul weather did not deter the faithful fashionistas who flocked to hear Town & Country Editor-in-Chief Pamela Fiori interview the elegant designer. They parked their umbrellas at the door, shook out their raincoats and took their seats.

Wang, known for her spectacular and expensive wedding dresses, also turns out collection after collection of high-end clothing that goes from the runway to the red carpet. The designer is expanding her affordable clothing line now sold at Kohl's this season. "The 1,100 doors will soon become 1,500," Wang said describing the success of the lower priced line. The designer enjoys working in a different vocabulary and price point for the chain store. "It gives me a chance to think outside the box," she said, "but I have to tell you I still love luxury."

Vera Wang and Pamela Fiori in a lively question and answer session at East Hamptons's Guild Hall.

This luxury was evident in the mini-collection on display at Guild Hall where a joint effort by Fiori and designer Stan Herman resulted in an exhibit featuring several prominent designers all of whom are residents of the Hamptons.

The impressive list includes Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Ellie Tahari, Nicole Miller, Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, Reed Krakow and the effervescent Betsey Johnson who chose to display, what else, wedding dresses. Hers of the fun loving, kooky and kinky variety not to be confused with the breathtakingly beautiful custom gowns produced by Vera Wang.

Wang and Fiori posed for photographers in front of the designer's display enhanced with a backdrop composed of pictures of Wyandanch Road in Southampton Village taken by her husband. "It's my favorite street. It's where we lived," Wang told the audience. "It was my late father's favorite street too."

Both women were sporting Vera Wang necklaces that the designer described as "fashion jewelry." Fiori wore an incredibly light-weight sparkler composed of multi-colored glass beads with a metallic hue. Fiori wore it doubled over and tied around her neck secured by a thick black velvet ribbon. "You can wear it as a belt too," she said. Wang's necklace was a space age contemporary work of art that combined the glitter of big time bling with a casual ease. It set off her black and grey attire and made the sun shine around her despite the rain. "Jewelry lights up your face," Wang said.

"I have no compunction wearing this necklace before noon," Fiori said of her Vera Wang fashion jewelry. "In fact, I would consider wearing this necklace before I would consider having a martini before noon." Fiori wore a beautiful Vera Wang forest green jacket with a pair of casual black twill pants and a black tee-shirt proving Wang's point about the mix of high style with elements of everyday clothing. It looked sensational. It was, as they say, fabulous.

The jacket was made from a luxurious Italian fabric. It had lose dolman sleeves and tied at the neck. "It packs well," Fiori said. "It's really an accessory," Wang chimed in.

Fashionistas braved the rain to hear their gurus speak.

The audience was treated to a large screen showing of Wang's 2010 Spring collection. The inspiration for the collection was a return to the Orient as seen in the high-heeled stiletto shoes with elaborate ribbon ties at the ankles, punctuated by the use of Wang's large scale fashion jewelry. The necklaces floated across the gauzy fabric the designer chose to work with. The effect was ethereal.

The dresses, mostly in shades of black or grey, were stunning in their combination of simplicity and high style. Fiori saluted Wang's confidence as a designer noting it took a lot of courage to bring out a spring and summer collection that had so much black in it. "Pam always asks the most insightful questions," Wang said.

Non-traditional Vera Wang gown for the fashion forward bride from the Spring 2010 Collection.

Then the designer gave the audience a glimpse of the frenetic creative process that goes with the territory as she described her work. The almost all black collection was supposed to be comprised of pastels but Wang could not work with the expensive fabric. Finally with just weeks to spare before the launch of the collection Wang threw the fabrics away. Herman gasped from his seat in the third row. "Once I got rid of everything, I was able to see a clear path," Wang said and the collection took shape. "I felt very irresponsible doing that in this economy," the cost conscious designer who never loses sight of the bottom line or hem line said.

The story of the collection that came about organically seems to be a metaphor of sorts for the designer's life that seems to have evolved seamlessly while she made several transitions. Wang, a graduate of Chapin, an upscale Manhattan prep school, went onto Sarah Lawrence College where she studied history. She wanted to be a world class Olympic figure skater but went into fashion instead when she realized she would never skate at that level despite years of training and competition.

Wang was a fashion editor at Vogue Magazine for 15 years before she quit in 1985 after her bid to become Editor-in-Chief was denied and the magazine hired Anna Wintour instead. Wintour remains at the helm today. Wang went to work for Ralph Lauren who refused to design her wedding dress. "I got married three days before my 40th birthday," Wang said. Lauren's refusal to get involved in the touchy issue of designing a wedding dress that Wang might not like but would feel obligated to wear was fortuitous. It gave Wang the inspiration she needed as she searched for her own gown. "I decided to make wedding gowns that would give women the opportunity to express themselves," Wang said. After she got married she started her own business designing high-end wedding gowns for a long list of movie stars, rock stars and society wives.

Wang almost didn't marry the man she ultimately chose to wed. "We were introduced by friends. We went out for less than 10 months then I decided it wasn't right for me," Wang said. "It was a lot like the movie "When Harry Met Sally." We decided to be friends and then we decided we weren't friends." The couple met again years later and got married. They have two daughters age 19 and 16.
"We have known each other for 35 years. We have been married for 20 years," Wang said of her husband. "He's a real East End guy. He loves it out here." Wang describes the East End as the place where she can live her personal life and relax while she seeks respite from the demands of being new and different every 12 weeks when a collection hits the runway.

Something edgy from the Vera Wang Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear collection.

Wang tries out her designs on real people using her three best friends as models. "I want to see how it looks on each one of them," Wang said. Style is not about price, or designer it is about a look that works. Women are not slaves to fashion any more. They are smart shoppers too. "I have a lot of very wealthy girlfriends," Wang said, "None of them are buying $6,000 jackets."

Luxury will always be a part of high fashion where designers spare no expense as they work with the most expensive fabrics aiming for the most stellar looks when they hit the runways. "At this level it is about establishing a presence more than about selling the clothes," Wang noted. "I don't make enough dresses for them to show up at Filene's" she said in answer to a question from the audience. "Occasionally we end up at Costo."

Then there's Kohl's. Fashion is about the mix. It's about looking good and enjoying the clothes. "60 is the new 40," Fiori said commenting on the state of fashion today. Then Wang went back to her private life where she prefers to wear polar fleece. "I'm not wearing it out here in front of you," she said to the audience. Fiori left the building clad in a dark navy Nautica parka. She wrapped a large pale yellow scarf around her neck. She was holding an umbrella in one hand.

That's the mix, that's fashion. It worked. Wang and Fiori were both still fabulous.

Wang is 60 and proud of it as she continues to design and inspire weaving a rich tapestry along the way.