Before she became synonymous with bridal gowns and red-carpet elegance, Vera was a competitive figure skater. Then she spent more than 15 years as a fashion editor at Vogue. It was stable. Prestigious. By any external measure, she had “made it.”

At 40, she was passed over for the editor-in-chief role.

That had to sting.

Around the same time, she designed her own wedding dress and decided there was something missing in the bridal world — modernity, simplicity, edge. So she left her secure job and opened a small bridal boutique.

She had no guarantees. There was no empire in sight. Vera took her leap in midlife based on a hunch, an opportunity she spotted, and a willingness to try.

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