Vera Wang opened her first bridal boutique in 1990, launching a major modern wedding-dress brand.
Wang entered bridal design after becoming frustrated by the limited choices available when planning her own wedding. Before opening her boutique, she had built a major fashion career as an editor at Vogue and later as a design director at Ralph Lauren. Her first bridal boutique opened at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.
The brand helped move bridal fashion toward cleaner lines, fashion-editorial styling and more varied silhouettes. Wang became especially associated with luxurious construction, sculptural shapes and a willingness to update traditional bridal conventions.
The year is sometimes confused with 1989, when Wang left Ralph Lauren, or with later dates associated with the international growth of her label. The bridal business itself began with the 1990 boutique, which established the foundation for her wedding-dress career.