Designer Sue Wong Chats With Fierce Manson

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Sue Wong is a Chinese-born American fashion designer best known for her dress designs with a contemporary twist based on old Hollywood glamor style 1 Her collections available in some 27 countries have been noted for her interpretations of the traditions of couture dressmaking of romantic eras such as Weimar Berlin 1930s Shanghai pre-code Hollywood and Manhattan s gilded Jazz Age While she was still trying to earn a Fashion degree she interned with the resource brand Arpeja after winning first place in a scholarship sponsored by the company apprenticing under the head designer When she was nine years old Wong made her first blouse with her mom s Singer sewing machine from a scrap of fabric and some lace A few years later in junior high and high school she insisted on designing and sewing herself a new dress for each weekly dance of the school year Her senior prom dress was her own creation as well adorned with beads handsewn into the bodice Sue Wong became an intern at Arpeja a popular fashion-design label in the 1960s and 70s 1 After a brief and failed attempt in 1970 to operate a boutique with her best friend in 1970 she returned to Arpeja in 1976 to become head designer of its Young Edwardian line By 1977 she had taken the company s sales from 5US million to 50US million In 1979 Wong again attempted to establish her own business but was unsuccessful She finally found success when she founded her own clothing line in 1984 Since then with her licensed brand Sue Wong Studio S Inc and with her younger son Josh Homann as the COO Wong has made a name for herself in the fashion industry 1 In 1999 she created Sue Wong Nocturne an evening wear line that came just in time for the millennium Click here to visit this podcast episode