Fashion Week features Vera Wang and William Fung

For fashion designer Vera Wang, “the attitude of the garment” matters most.

On Thursday afternoon, Wang spoke alongside William Fung of the Li & Fung Group as keynote speaker of Penn Fashion Week.

Speaking at the Annenberg Center’s Harold Prince Theater — filled to capacity — Wang explained that her success arose from a failure. An unsuccessful attempt at a figure-skating career led her to Paris, where she fell in love with fashion. After returning to the United States, Wang climbed the ranks at Vogue and subsequently worked at Ralph Lauren, until she saw a business opportunity in bridal design.

She stressed the importance of being passionate about one’s job, adding that her love of fashion has been the driving force behind her career and her transition from high-fashion designs to the affordable clothing line Simply Vera.

Wang also alluded to the “democratization of fashion” from old European fashion houses to the masse. Without this process, she said, “fashion would not be what it is today.”

Wang’s goal, she added, is to make clothing of the highest possible quality at affordable prices. “Good design doesn’t have to be expensive,” added Fung, who described Li & Fung’s role in the production side of Wang’s business.

Fung — the company’s group management director — also described the complexity of keeping up with continuously evolving consumer demand.

“You have to have a global perspective,” he said.

Fung stressed that the emergence of a global market and the “globalization of demand” is a new challenge facing the fashion industry. He explained the need for interaction between the creative side of design and practicality — or, in other words, “how to turn couture into something wearable.”

Reflecting on the event, Wharton School graduate student Kelly Chen said it was “great to get both the designer aspect and the supply side of retail together in a discussion.”

Wharton junior and President of the Wharton Retail Club Marlena Filipowska said Penn students often feel pressure to pursue opportunities such as consulting and finance.

However, she thinks that “students are beginning to realize that as long as you work hard and really love what you do, you can be successful in any industry — especially retail and fashion.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.