Every month, MaRen Designs leverages our newsletter to showcase women who were the first to achieve a feat in their realm of life. Barrier breakers, these ladies made a name for themselves. And perhaps, more importantly, they found a purpose, a calling that gave their life meaning.
A name synonymous with wedding gowns, Vera Wang has built a fashion empire that branches out to home, accessories, beauty, fragrance, and publishing. In April’s newsletter, MaRen Designs focuses on Wang and on her path that eventually led to the National Medal of Arts Award, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government.
During the National Medal of Arts Award ceremony, President Joe Biden revealed that his wife Jill Biden’s closet is filled with Vera Wang designs, to which Wang later said that it doesn’t get any better for a designer knowing her designs are worn, enjoyed, experienced by someone like the First Lady of the United States.
Purpose by Design
Interviewers often point out that Vera Wang was 40 years old when she first started her bridal line, to which Wang responds that 40 is not that old. But then she elaborates on her time as an editor with Vogue and as a design director with Ralph Lauren, explaining that those careers were meaningful in and of themselves – but that also she couldn’t have started her own business without those experiences.
Wang suggests to those who are passionate about a dream to get started by working for anyone, especially for someone they respect. Getting paid to learn brings a person up the learning curve in so many respects, gaining knowledge, learning about oneself, and discovering which rules they want to break.
MaRen Designs revolves around liberating girls to pursue their passions. By finding clothing that instills confidence, a girl can turn her attention to her passions and dreams. And we hope those passions transform into purpose in young girls’ lives.
An Icon for Women and Girls
A figure skater during her youth, Wang believes it’s a great sport for girls because it simultaneously teaches them discipline while allowing them to experience the happiness that accompanies self-expression. Combining speed and movement, figure skating requires that one gets back up after a fall – and try again – a message so important for young women.
Wang credits her parent’s immigrant mentality for her strong work ethic while also crediting her time in France for her ability to appreciate beauty. She considers it an honor to craft clothing, a sentiment shared by the team at MaRen Designs.
In the spirit of expressing oneself, MaRen Designs offers soft-as-skin materials and timeless style to girls who want to focus on their dreams and goals without the distractions of feeling self-conscious or experiencing embarrassment. Our clothing is designed to enfranchise young girls to pursue their passions.
Core Values: Positivity and Authenticity
The child of immigrant parents from China, Vera Wang brings a positivity to her business that MaRen Designs aspires to achieve as part of its core values. Unlike many designers, Wang is the head of both the creative and business aspects of her company. While Wang’s father was a businessman, he instilled in her the idea that business can be creative.
Wang revamped the bridal industry by bringing an authenticity to style and luxury, a trait also adopted by MaRen Designs as part of its core values, along with positivity. Giving herself a chance to grow into her genius, Wang embodied her life experiences, sense of style, and business acumen while building her fashion empire.
Personalizing Style
Known for her attention to detail, Vera Wang makes style and luxury approachable for everyday women. Beyond the red carpet and the White House, Wang also designs lifestyle wear and ready-to-wear lines.
MaRen Designs collaborates with our own clients in the creative process. By empowering girls to personalize their fashion with button-on accents, monograms, and changeable straps, our brand brings our clothing to where the girl wants to be. Whether girls choose shells, rosettes, or other accessories, they take ownership of their style via colourful tops, camisoles, and bras.
Co-creating our style with our customers is the hallmark of the MaRen Designs brand. Our fashion changes as our clients grow, building our brand together along the way.
Canadian-Made with Pride
Proudly producing all of our products in Canada, MaRen engages in only ethical manufacturing. Just as Vera Wang embraces her Chinese heritage, American upbringing, and European influences, MaRen also encompasses multicultural roots in both North America and Europe. From Montreal to Geneva, MaRen finds inspiration in the youth of the world.
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Somebody Pays the Price...Why I Choose to Manufacture in Canada
One of the mottos and ethos of the MaRen brand is to uplift and support girls and women all the time! I take pride in knowing that MaRen Designs sources ethical vendors and manufactures every single piece of its collection in Canada, my home. In honour of women around the globe, what better way to know that MaRen and I walk the talk by supporting our sisters by buying ethically and sustainably. All girls and women deserve the right to earn a fair and meaningful wage to support themselves and their families. As a mom, the thought of any child being forced to work in support of his or her family is heartbreaking and painful, although I realise in some circumstances necessary. I do not judge those parents who have no choice, or put differently, have to sadly choose to send their minor to earn a living. I understand that if they could, they would make another choice. But child labour and forced labour are only the tip of the iceberg; we who live in Western corporate worlds are placated with buzzwords such as "pay equity", which are truly only aspirational, but not lived because we all know a man who makes double the salary of a girlfriend doing the same job! So, I am committed to doing my part not to contribute to the factors of a multifaceted and sometimes duplicitous equation. While I can not fix the world's problems, nor move people out of poverty, I can make sure that I do even the smallest thing to ensure that I am consciously aware, skilled and educated about the issues so that I make the right choices for the brand. Somebody pays the price ... Manufacturing ethically and paying my staff their worth, means we all rise. xoxo Alisia