Vera Wang - former figure skater :)

[Casey]

Vera Wang: Fashion Designer, Figure Skater (http://www.mpire.com/research/ebayPop.ivk)

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 (http://www.mpire.com/research/ebayPop.ivk)


Clothing designer Vera Wang is world renown for her stunning dresses, bridal gowns and lovely eau de parfum, but few know Vera Wang, the figure skater. Back in 1968, Vera's prowess on ice got her profiled in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd," a long-standing feature that highlights current amateur athletes' exceptional performances. This week, the magazine celebrates 50 years of "Faces," which has run 2,632 weeks and profiled 15,672 athletes, including hundreds of then-unknown, now-famous personalities such as Tiger Woods, Magic Johnson, Emmitt Smith, Jack Nicklaus, John McEnroe and even James Dean.

Turns out Vera, a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College in 1967, took the senior ladies' title with a near-perfect performance at the North Atlantic Figure Skating Championships, which ended up getting her featured in the Jan. 8, 1968, edition of S.I. At 18, she missed qualifying for the nationals by two spots, and by falling short, so too did her dream of the 1968 Olympics.

After that, Vera left New York City and traveled to Paris to "find herself." It was there that she ended up discovering her fascination with design and fashion, and it quickly became her full-blown love. Today, the likes of Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson and Uma Thurman wear her gowns, and no red carpet event is absent her "look."

Now 57, does Vera miss the skating? She tells S.I., "My old coach Peter Dunfield recently said to me, 'Vera, don't you miss the wind in your face? And I said, 'I do. I miss it every day.' "

[Debbie S]

Shouldn't this have a link to the source, with only part of the article posted? It is a violation of copyright law to post whole articles elsewhere on the Internet w/o referring to the source.

--Debbie, the former editor and newspaper reporter

[charmainia]

wow - never knew that. I wonder what would have happened if she had stayed on skating.

[Petlover]

I know that Vera Wang designed quite a few fabulous competition dresses for Michelle Kwan. I'm thinking that she also designed Nancy Kerrigan's 1994 Olympic LP dress, but I may be wrong about that.

[Clarice]

I think you're right about her doing Nancy Kerrigan's Olympic dresses. I'm sure her skating experience makes a difference - did anybody else see the "skating dress challenge" on Project Runway? None of those designers had a clue about what would work on the ice and what a skater's needs are. The dress was to be for Sasha Cohen, who was a guest judge. Sasha was very gracious about the whole thing, and picked a "winner", but I've heard that she never actually wore the dress because her own dressmaker was unable to fix the thing to make it skateable. My daughter and I thought that episode was hysterically funny - each dress was worse than the one before.

[flo]

You're right, she did design it. I love her work.

[cherryliphoto]

michelle kwan's sister Karen Kwan-Oppegard also worked for Vera Wang for a while. or maybe it was just an internship.

[SynchroSk8r114]

I know that Vera Wang designed quite a few fabulous competition dresses for Michelle Kwan. I'm thinking that she also designed Nancy Kerrigan's 1994 Olympic LP dress, but I may be wrong about that.

She did do Kerrigan's dress:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S-gTH-RDYJQ

[FSWer]

michelle kwan's sister Karen Kwan-Oppegard also worked for Vera Wang for a while. or maybe it was just an internship.


Say,from reading this post. About Karen. I also know I haven't hrard much about her. But is she married now? From the way her name is written here?

[SynchroSk8r114]

Say,from reading this post. About Karen. I also know I haven't hrard much about her. But is she married now? From the way her name is written here?

According to an article on Wikipedia (I know, not the best source, but it's something), Karen has maintained her connection to figure skating working as a choreographer and now as the skating director for the East West Skating Palace in Artesia, California. Apparently, this rink is owned and maintained by the Kwan family.

Outside the rink, Karen graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Communications from Boston University in 2000. As mentioned earlier in this thread, she interned with Vera Wang and has even designed (and continues to) some of her sister Michelle's dresses.

You're right about her marriage, FSWer. She married three-time U.S. pair skating and 1988 Olympic bronze medalists Peter Oppegard; the couple has two daughters: Olivia Colett Oppegard and Sophia Oppegard.

Here's a link to the goregous East West Skating Palace where Karen coaches. Some other famous skaters that coach there include Peter Oppegard and Tiffany Chin.
http://www.eastwesticepalace.com/index.html

[cherryliphoto]

yes, Karen is married to Peter Oppegard, also figure skating coach and choreographer. they both coach at Artesia Ice Palace, also known as EastWest Ice Palace.
Their dad, Danny Kwan is the manager, Karen and Michelle the owners, I think... their grandpa (crap...don't remember his name) works the concession counter.
I miss skating there :(...but I would trade Cerritos for Paris any day ha!

[FSWer]

yes, Karen is married to Peter Oppegard, also figure skating coach and choreographer. they both coach at Artesia Ice Palace, also known as EastWest Ice Palace.
Their dad, Danny Kwan is the manager, Karen and Michelle the owners, I think... their grandpa (crap...don't remember his name) works the concession counter.
I miss skating there :(...but I would trade Cerritos for Paris any day ha!


COOL!!!! How does Michelle own a Rink with her family and skate at the same time? Is she also trainning there? BTW. does Karen have kids?

[SynchroSk8r114]

COOL!!!! How does Michelle own a Rink with her family and skate at the same time? Is she also trainning there? BTW. does Karen have kids?

Yes, Karen does have kids: two daughters, Olivia Colett Oppegard and Sophia Oppegard.

[FSWer]

Really? Do they skate? How old are they?

[cherryliphoto]

COOL!!!! How does Michelle own a Rink with her family and skate at the same time? Is she also trainning there?

Michelle doesn't run the place, her dad runs it, and she doesn't really train here, she goes to school in Colorado.

[cherryliphoto]

Really? Do they skate? How old are they?

I don't think they can skate yet, they're toddlers

[FSWer]

Michelle doesn't run the place, her dad runs it, and she doesn't really train here, she goes to school in Colorado.


So Michelles owne in the sence of being a Kwan,right? Say,also,are there any Synchro. Teams that train there? If so,which ones? LOL,my it must cost a lot to Public skate there. BTW. does anyone happen to know what happened to Danny's resturant? Didn't the family have a Chinese place at one time? As far as Karen gos. Has she ever relesed any on-line pics of her kids? Or is she private?

[SynchroSk8r114]

So Michelles owne in the sence of being a Kwan,right? Say,also,are there any Synchro. Teams that train there? If so,which ones? LOL,my it must cost a lot to Public skate there. BTW. does anyone happen to know what happened to Danny's resturant? Didn't the family have a Chinese place at one time? As far as Karen gos. Has she ever relesed any on-line pics of her kids? Or is she private?

Public skating costs $9 for general admission, $8 for kids under 10 with skate rental coming in at $3, according to the rink's website.

Based on their website, it doesn't look as if any synchro teams practice here, but I could be wrong.

I found a New York Times article somewhere that said that Danny Kwan came to the U.S. in 1971 and worked as a busyboy at a Hollywood restaurant (not named). One year later, his parents also came to the U.S., which is when they opened the restaurant you're referring to: the Golden Pheasant located in Torrence, CA.

[ScarlettRose]

Michelle the (Kwans) are related to Vera Wang. Just a bit of info for you. :)

[cherryliphoto]

Michelle the (Kwans) are related to Vera Wang. Just a bit of info for you. :)

really?? cool!! where did you hear this?

[FSWer]

COOL!!!!! How are they related? Are they cousins?

[Isk8NYC]

Michelle the (Kwans) are related to Vera Wang. Just a bit of info for you. :)
Hmmm. Wonder why all the articles I've read say that they are just "family friends?"
http://news.theolympian.com/stories/20020221/SouthSoundLiving/21172.shtml

[looplover]

I think Vera Wang still skates, at least recreationally. I could swear I just recently saw her interviewed and she mentioned something about what she wears when she skates.