Vera Wang Tries on Every Single Wedding Dress That She Designs: ‘I Experiment on Myself’ (Exclusive)

Vera Wang is opening up about the creative process behind her iconic wedding dress designs.

Amid her latest collaboration with Zales for the Vera Wang LOVE Collection, Wang, 75, talks to PEOPLE about how she’s able to elevate her designs and stay creative after 55 years in the fashion industry.

“I think it comes from me,” the designer explains of how she continues to be inspired. “I mean, it comes from how I feel about fashion, how I feel about women, how I feel about design. And the incredible focus I’ve had for… This is my 55th year in the fashion industry. This is my 35th year with my own company. And it was my 75th birthday, so I think for me, it’s just a state of mind.”

Before debuting her bridal brand in 1990 after being unable to find a dress for her own wedding, Wang began her career as an editor at Vogue and later worked as design director for accessories at Ralph Lauren. Since then, she has launched multiple spin-off lines and dressed countless A-listers including Ariana Grande, Hailey Bieber and Kim Kardashian. 

Now, Wang is one of the most recognizable names in bridal design, and she intends to keep it that way.

“I always feel there’s something new to be done,” says Wang, who is introducing 38 new engagement rings and wedding bands with Zales this season.

Every piece within the VWL Collection has a blue sapphire accent as a symbol of everlasting love. Her unique rings, which were each “designed with great intention,” are also fashion-centric, with the new assortment curated for three bridal styles: Romantic, Princess and Minimalist. 

“What was so interesting about this collection was that I was really thinking in terms of the different kinds of brides,” Wang tells PEOPLE. “And today, part of all of that, what we really tried to encourage is for all brides, all couples, is to respect their own individuality, to feel really, a certain freedom that they could express themselves and be creative. And that’s sort of been my mantra since I started in bridal.”

Wang describes her work as “extremely, intensely personal,” emphasizing that deep research goes into every project.

“I spend a lot of time on research and that’d be true of every license that I have. I mean, I am constantly studying what’s going on in absolutely every area that we are licensed in,” she says. “It’s very important to me that there’s real effort put behind the product. It’s not a phone-in.”

When it comes to her bridal collection, Wang says she tries on every dress herself.

“I very much experiment on myself,” she tells PEOPLE. “I think that women designers, other women, we have a much more personal relationship to our bodies, and to the brides, and women I dress, not just brides. But I think it’s a very personal relationship. I mean, I literally try on my clothes that I designed for not ready-to-wear, but collection and for bridal. I mean, I literally feel what the weight of the dress is, how it makes you feel in it, the different body types there are.”

She continues, “I don’t know a woman designer that does not inhabit her work… It really is a very different relationship to work, to your process, and to what you create.”

At the center of Wang’s work is love, an experience which she describes as “very, very personal and yet very, very global in a way.” She explains that people’s perspectives on love and life evolves over time.

“And I think for me, that’s very much how I feel about fashion. I mean, certainly things I designed 35 years ago, still to me, many of the things look incredibly modern even today. But if I were doing it today, I might change it up a bit because I’ve changed,” Wang tells PEOPLE. “So I think that applies to not only a personal relationship, but also to one’s creative life and one’s work. And I think that’s true of all of us.”

Wang believes “there’s no one standard type of bride,” but the advice she has for all of them is simple: “Be yourself.”

“I mean, everybody is not the same. And everyone should really embrace who they are, what they look like, how they live, who they’re marrying, how they’re marrying, what their lifestyle is,” Wang says. “There’s so much creativity possible, particularly today. And I think a lot less judgment. And that’s something we’ve always tried to do is break every rule. But at the same time, I do think this is the perfect moment to embrace all of that. And I’ve always encouraged it.”

She continues of brides, “It’s their day. I mean, it’s their wedding and they should feel very free and very comfortable and very excited about how they’re going to celebrate.”