Will Vera Wang become the latest high-end status symbol in the ever-escalating luxury-condo wars? Fresh off her Fashion Week success, and the unexpected death of her father, the designer best known as the patron saint of brides-to-be is taking her first stab at condoland — doing some work for the Onyx, a new building in Chelsea that her pal, Seagram heir turned high-concept-condo investor Matthew Bronfman, is developing. This time, Wang's involvement only goes as far as a cloth sculpture for the lobby — "I wouldn't say I was making art, but it's very artisanal," she says. "I don't even want to call it a tapestry" — but it's possible that this is only the start of her real-estate design career. Bronfman says "there's always an opportunity for [a condo]," though Wang hints at something else. "I've been talking to people," she says. "A Vera Wang hotel, maybe." It better be classy, though. "Fake richness upsets me," she says.

— S. Jhoanna Robledo