Vera Wang talks raising a ‘psycho Eagles fan’ and designing the cheerleaders’ uniforms
The iconic bridal designer is the mastermind behind the Eagles current cheerleading uniforms, which premiered in 2003 before being revamped a decade later.

What do Ariana Grande’s wedding dress, Nancy Kerrigan’s 1994 Winter Olympics figure skating costume, and the uniforms for the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders all have in common?
They were designed by Vera Wang.
The 75-year-old couture fashion designer from New York is best known for her ethereal bridal looks, having outfitted the likes of Mariah Carey, Victoria Beckham, and Kim Kardashian, among others, for their walks down the aisle.
But Wang has also dressed champions — including the Eagles cheer team that held down the sidelines during the Birds’ first Super Bowl win, in 2018.
» READ MORE: Reminiscence | Super Bowl 2018: Eagles win first Super Bowl, 41-33, stop Tom Brady, Patriots
Wang had already cemented herself as the go-to costume designer for Olympic figure skaters when the family of Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie reached out to her to revamp the team’s cheer uniforms in 2003, making her the first major designer to collaborate with an NFL team.
The cheerleaders went through another revamp with Wang in 2013, resulting in the lineup of uniforms fans see at games and pep rallies today: The low-slung booty shorts and bra top duo, jackets with eagle wings on the shoulder, green racing-stripe leggings, and a mini skirt.
All looks are completed by a pair of sparkly black sneakers custom made by Wang.
Jeffrey Lurie and then-wife Christina Weiss Lurie were involved in the design process, said Wang, who was mostly a casual football fan before getting involved with the Birds. Now she and her daughter Cecilia Becker — a University of Pennsylvania graduate — are all-in on Philly.
“I didn’t know anything about the Eagles,” Wang said. “I live in New York so the teams I knew — not that I did any work with them — were the Jets and the Giants.”
Ahead of the second Eagles-Kansas City Chiefs matchup in Sunday’s Super Bowl, The Inquirer caught up with Wang to revisit her uniforms and what it was like designing for the — er — most critical fanbase in the NFL.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
How did you first come to design the Eagles cheerleader uniforms in 2003?
I knew the Luries. We were friends when [Christina Lurie] asked me if I wanted to do their cheerleaders, and so began our journey.
All I knew at the time was that not every football team had cheerleaders, but I had designed for skaters — Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan — in the Olympics and World Figure Skating championships, so I knew this was a big deal.
The Luries had a certain prerequisite in mind for me. They wanted me to accomplish something very girl-next-door, very clean-cut, but also very sexy with an athletic feel. We did a lot of sketches both times. ... It wasn’t just ‘Let Vera design and we’ll just approve it.’ [The Luries] were very invested in the details, down to what zippers we used or the curve of the bras.
It was really exciting because I had never done anything like it before, but also very scary. Whenever you take on anything outside of your field of expertise, it feels like leaping off a cliff.
» READ MORE: Eagles cheerleaders: Celebrating 75 years
Philly fans are known for being passionate, especially when they dislike something. Did you ever have a fear of what would happen if Eagles fans didn’t like the uniforms?
Of course.
I’m a surface [level] football fan. I’ve gone to Super Bowl parties my whole life, sitting in my friends’ apartments and watching [the games] on their husbands’ televisions while eating chicken wings. So I knew football was America’s game, but I didn’t know fans could be so passionate and specific.
Obviously, there’s a certain responsibility when you take on anything that’s high-profile. And certainly Olympic figure skating was high-profile. But so are football teams, and especially those that have cheerleaders and especially the Eagles.
How was designing the uniforms different from, say, putting together a New York Fashion Week collection?
It was really an exercise in branding on a massive scale since this was before Adidas was having a resurgence and [branded] athleisure got popular.
But also every sport is so specific. Here I had to take into account away games, home games, cold-weather games. Really, I was building a wardrobe for these girls, which is so much different than skating. Also the fact that everything is televised: You see people from 360 degrees, not only from the front. Things like that felt new.
» READ MORE: From 2019: Kyle Tanguay named Eagles’ first male cheerleader in over three decades
Do you have a favorite piece from the Eagles cheer collection?
The leggings. I started wearing leggings back when no one would wear them because they looked like pantyhose.
I also love the parka, though I know it is less sexy. It looks so distinctive because of the placement of the wings on the shoulders.
You were a competitive figure skater — who was just shy of making the 1968 Olympic team — before you were a designer. In what way does designing remind you of being an athlete?
Being an athlete is a part of me, and I actually love athletic clothes, even though they weren’t very [comfortable] back when I was skating in the ‘50s and ‘60s. We didn’t have lycra, so we had to wear wool and other fabrics that didn’t stretch.
I also studied dance at the School of American Ballet [in New York City] as part of my figure-skating training. When you do that, you’re always looking in a mirror. You learn by looking in a mirror and just studying yourself, so I became obsessed with lines and form. I’d imagine that’s part of why the Luries picked me.
I’ve heard your oldest daughter is quite the Eagles fan. Is that true?
Cecilia graduated from Penn and became an absolute Eagles psycho while she was there. She dresses up for every game and either watches by herself in her apartment or goes to an Eagles bar in New York City.
She literally tells me not to call her during the game. She’s like, “I can’t talk right now. The Birds are on.”
Cecilia actually got to attend the [divisional playoff] game and was crying when the Eagles won because I guess it got close in the last quarter. [Editor’s note: it did]. She said it was magical.