Vera Wang built her illustrious brand name making other women's fashion dreams come true.

Along the way, she achieved a lifestyle that surpassed her own wildest dreams—especially considering when she decided to dip her peep-toe into the bridal market.

“I thought maybe it’s just too late for me," Wang, now 76, told CNBC's Make It in 2021 of starting her eponymous label at 40 after struggling to find the perfect gown for her own nuptials.

Fashionista, it was not too late. The New York native designed the dress she wore when she wed investor Arthur P. Becker in 1989, and Vera Wang Bridal was born the following year.

The marriage ended in 2012—the exes share daughters Cecilia Becker and Josephine Becker, both in their 30s—but the business, which now encompasses ready-to-wear and much more, may just be forever.

“There have been a million days where I said to myself, ‘What was I thinking?’ or ‘Why did I do this?’” Wang told Make It. “But there have been way more days where I felt extremely lucky to be doing something that I love so much and learning new lessons as not only a designer but as an entrepreneur every day."

At the same time, she's been teaching a master class on living it up.

Wang jetted to Paris for her June 27 birthday festivities, donning a backless LBD for dinner with friends and a lingerie-inspired look later in the week as the celebration continued.

"Every age has its unique time and beauty," she said on a May 2024 episode of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Wiser Than Me podcast. "It’s not the same—it never will be—but you find your way through every stage.”

If it seems as if Wang has been turning far more heads with her own looks at this stage of her life, that is the case.

And not least because the 5-foot-3 couturier—who remains Chief Creative Officer of her namesake brand since selling it in December 2024 to WHP Global—relishes showing off her chic minimalist ensembles. (Except when she's at the Met Gala, which demands extra accoutrements.)

"Women were considered transparent at a certain age, even in terms of their career," Wang, whose empire generates $700 million in annual sales, told BBC News in March. "You will age out of a career. I do not just mean modeling, I do not just mean being an editor."

But, she stressed, "It is not about age, it is about style. And that is always how I felt."

Her passion for fashion came from, as she put it to Make It, her "clothes horse" mom Florence Wu, who immigrated to New York from Shanghai with her husband Cheng Ching Wang in the 1940s.

Wang grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, dreaming of being an Olympic figure skater. She joined her parents on trips to Paris, she told South China Morning Post's Post Mag, "where I would accompany [my mom] to Yves Saint Laurent’s showroom while my dad shopped at Hermès."

She studied art history at Sarah Lawrence College and, after failing to make the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, the "devastated" athlete opted to spend a semester in Paris. 

"In my heart of hearts I always wanted to be a fashion designer," CCTV'sGlobal Business in 2015, but after she graduated, her dad told her he wouldn't pay for any more education.

"'If you really love fashion, prove it to me, go get a job,'" she recalled him telling her. "And like any good Chinese daughter, I did."

That job? Becoming the youngest-ever editor at Vogue, where Wang spent 17 years before leaving to design accessories for Ralph Lauren in 1987.

While the likes of Victoria Beckham, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey have walked down the aisle in her designs, when she started Vera Wang Bridal, her first client was Ethel Kennedy, as in Robert F. Kennedy's widow.

"Her son Max was getting married and marrying a beautiful girl who was a law student," Wang told BBC News, referring to Victoria Strauss. "I spent eight months on that dress, and within 10 minutes of the ceremony, she was out kicking a football with the Kennedy brothers."

While she isn't one for Hyannis Port, Wang used to share a Hamptons home with her then-husband and has lived in many places, including a Paris pied-à-terre "very much influenced by Coco Chanel's suite at the Ritz," she told Vogue in 2020, and a Beverly Hills mansion she bought for $10 million in 2011.

But her home base nowadays is a renovated 7,400-square-foot duplex on Park Avenue that belonged to her parents.

"My parents lived in this apartment for probably 30 years," she told Vogue. "They always kept a room for my brother [Kenneth Wang, owner of Pound Ridge Golf Course in New York] and me—even if we were married, or older and single without dates."

When Wang moved in, out went the dated decor—and most of the walls. "I really wanted the rooms to be like a studio, where I could move things around if I wished to," she explained. "I wanted it to be modular and movable."

"When you are focused on your work, it's very difficult to also focus on art and architecture," she noted. "I mean...Karl [as in Lagerfeld] didn't have much furniture, either."

It's not as severe as it sounds, though, according to Wang's daughters.

Rather, Josephine told Vogue, her mother's sanctuary is "a lot more comfortable than you might think just looking at it. It's incredibly cozy."

And in case you were wondering where Wang hangs all the designer looks she loves from the likes of Prada, Rick Owens and Margiela, she converted one of the apartment's original six bedrooms into a huge closet. 

"They're all my children, and I love my children," she told Vogue of the epic amount of clothing, shoes and accessories she amassed. And for anyone who thinks she has to live forever to wear it all, she offered, "I think I am on my way to 10,000!"

See all the celebrity brides who've financed her collection, er, worn Vera Wang on their wedding day:

The former First Daughter married Craig Louis Coyne in Maine, wearing a custom ivory silk crepe gown by Vera Wang.

The 90210 actress made the unexpected (but breathtaking) choice to hit the altar in a black silk georgette and silk faille halter ball gown from Vera Wang's Fall 2012 bridal collection.

The model wed Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill in strapless, custom-made Vera Wang gown layered with Chantilly and corded lace applique.  

The singer wowed in this one-shouldered, ivory silk Vera Wang confection. The Grecian goddess-style gown was perfectly accessorized with a crystal headpiece from Jacob & Co. and a bouquet of violet calla lilies.

The Celebrity Apprentice judge went for classic beauty in this Grace Kelly-inspired Vera Wang gown.

Vice President Joe Biden's daughter looked ravishing in this slim-fitting Vera Wang mermaid gown offset by draped tulle and a circular organza petal skirt.

Another member of a political family, Chelsea Clinton, stunned in this belted, silk organza Vera Wang creation.

The model wore a form-fitting, ruched Vera Wang mermaid-style dress to wed pro-tennis player beau Andy Roddick in 2009.

In 2008, the star married Lamar Odom. The bride wore a sexy, strapless Vera Wang gown with an embellished lavender sash to say "I do."

NEXT GALLERY: What Hollywood Brides-to-Be Should Wear

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