Vera Wang had fashion fans laughing after making a playful comment about Anna Wintour’s signature sunglasses during a New York gala appearance. The 76-year-old may be one of fashion’s most glamorous legends, but she proved this week that she can still poke fun at her closest industry friends, too.
© Joy MaloneWhile attending the Figure Skating in Harlem Igniting the Dream Gala at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on May 18, Wang had a hilarious response while posing for photographers that immediately caught the internet’s attention. As cameras flashed, a video shared to Instagram showed the designer briefly removing her sunglasses and joking, “I do both, I’m not Anna Wintour.”
© Joy MaloneThe playful jab was clearly aimed at the longtime fashion powerhouse, whose oversized sunglasses have become almost as iconic as her signature bob haircut over the decades. She's been photographed wearing them since the 90s.
© GettyWintour’s sunglasses have practically become part of her uniform over the years, appearing front row at runway shows, inside fashion offices, at tennis matches, and even during interviews.
© GothamBut Wang loves shades too. They've both been spotted wearing them together.
Anna Wintour's "Prop"
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe former Vogue editor has actually addressed the obsession herself multiple times, explaining there’s more strategy behind the shades than people realize.
Speaking to CNN back in 2019, Wintour admitted the sunglasses are “incredibly useful because you avoid people knowing what you’re thinking about.” She also confessed they help when she feels “a bit tired or sleepy,” before admitting they have become “a crutch and part of who I am.”
© TheStewartofNYA few years later, she gave an even more Wintour answer while speaking with the BBC in 2024. They help me see, and they help me not see,” she explained, calling them a "prop." “They help me be seen and not be seen.”
Of course, Wang’s comment didn’t exactly come from nowhere either. The designer is just as obsessed with eyewear in her own way and has openly called herself a collector of sunglasses over the years. In a 2021 interview with 20/20 Magazine, Wang described eyewear as one of fashion’s most transformative accessories.
© Getty“It is so creative, so personal,” Wang said. “For people to be able to transform themselves and enjoy their own creativity and experiment, I just think it’s such a fun thing.”
The moment also gave fans another glimpse into the easy chemistry and mutual respect that has existed between Wang and Wintour for decades. Both women have remained towering figures in fashion while surviving trend cycles, changing industries, and generations of designers who came after them.
And at 76, Wang is still showing up like someone half her age. Just days before the gala, she turned heads at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Hot Pink Party in New York City, wearing a silky champagne-toned gown with a dramatic fishtail silhouette that instantly went viral online.
