28
There was nothing ever like it, before or after.
I didnt really have much of another life [outside ofVogue].
Read on to hear about Wangs life at age 28.
Take me back to 28, when you were working atVogue.
I really learned fashion from the ground-up.
I covered the younger designers I remember Marc [Jacobs].
I styled all the shoots and was traveling between September and April.
I was probably only home two weekends I was at shows and shooting in Paris.
When I joined [the magazine] it was bi-monthly.
Can you imagine producing 24 issues in a year?
And it was bigger in those days.
That wasVogueback in the days of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon.
Certainly, at 28, I was well on my way into this industry.
I knew my path was in fashion.
I didnt know I would still be working as hard as I am.
At this time, did you ever think you might have your own fashion company?
I didnt feel I was qualified.
He wanted me to go to Yale Law or Harvard Business School.
He said, If you think youre such a big hot shot, go get a job in fashion.
So I lucked out with the job atVogue.
What was your personal style like then?
It was as it is today very styled.
I was an editor atVogue, so I didnt wear clothes in a normal way.
I was wearing candy-striped Norma Kamali leggings.
I would wear a Kenzo shearling jacket.
It was even more eclectic than I am now.
I would do high-low [looks].
Im not as much of a dress girl oddly enough for someone who designs a lot of dresses.
In my own personal style, it was always about mixing unlikely things.
What was a typical Friday night like for you at 28?
Friday night at 28 was clubbing.
There was nothing ever like it, before or after.
The beautiful thing about Studio 54 was that it was so inclusive.
Nor was it about stars like Halston and Andy Warhol.
It was a mix, and it gave you this kind of freedom and acceptance.
It had a much more democratic acceptance of age and of what you did.
What you did need to have was a certain feeling of cool.
But thats what made Studio so famous.
I went to all these clubs that tried to copy it, but there was only one Studio.
What advice would you give to your 28-year-old self?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
This article was originally published onJuly 1, 2022
