Alexander Wang’s Fall Collection was Terrific!

Alexander Wang’s fall collection was terrific — we think. The clothes were tough to see clearly since the set had less light than an east-facing apartment at sundown. Would a little more wattage really have killed the mood? No, but then, a dose of sartorial confusion was just the point. Wang continued the trompe l’oeil thread he started for pre-fall by taking, he said before the show, “a Surrealist approach to fabric manipulation. The idea is a distorted perception of things you might think are raincoats but are actually laminated tweeds.”

The notion provided a grainy backdrop — installed with cubic mirrors — for Wang’s high-octane sportswear machine, now capable of developing from scratch 90 percent of the materials used in his collections, a factoid the designer proudly disclosed backstage. A multitude of stiff, shiny treatments shone well on the limited palette of white, black and a bit of oxblood, while amping up the stylistic tension. Lacquered merino wool tweeds, waxed suedes and shrink wrapped-jacquard knits were worked into graphic silhouettes, his most defined and daring yet, particularly when it came to outerwear. The first look was a boxy, white lacquered tweed raincoat with a round helmet of a hood. Under it, a fishnet turtleneck was pulled up over the model’s mouth — there was a lot of that. In fact, the mood of chic aggression recalled, but didn’t replicate, early Nineties Helmut Lang. Yet while edge is in the atoms at Wang, he slipped in a moment or two that nudged toward minimalist bourgeois, for example, a shiny, crewneck sweater worn with a long, straight leather skirt that wrapped in the front, creating a generous slit.

At the bottom of the show notes, which ended with look 31, the instructive “Please stay seated…” was printed. Most people were banking on some kind of live performance, but after the models took their final walk, the lights changed and out came a more elite and (excuse the term) elder pack of models, including Shalom Harlow, Karolina Kurkova and Gisele Bündchen as the finale. The looks they wore were in the same vein as the previous 31 but with less shine, more refinement and more tailoring, perhaps to signal Wang’s correct conviction that, hip as they are, his clothes do indeed have range. After a lap, each girl took her place facing one of the mirrors at close range. Supermodels looking in the mirror…there’s probably a surreal message there.

Runway Review: Alexander Wang Fall 2011 

by Americana Guest Blogger, Jim Shi

If there’s ever been a moment for Alexander Wang, it surely is now. Just this week alone he’s won the GQ Best New Menswear Designer of the Year Award and opened his first flagship in SoHo. So how does he top that? With an urban streetscape collection that was something to be reckoned with. After spring’s all-white palette, black was very much top of mind for Wang, whose show was set to a lit, pulsating runway that would have made Michael Jackson proud. Like his recent achievements, his fall show reflected how quickly he’s matured and remained methodical in every decision he makes. The collection was saturated with decadent ponchos and après-ski options—if Manhattan, London and Paris are your resort getaway. Deconstructing luxury attire, Wang showed some clever hybrid garments: gently padded tuxedo pants zipped open on the sides to reveal track pants; a motorcycle jacket fused with the utility of a parka then finished off with a proper tailcoat. The clever use of patchworking really had the audience cooing; the degrade-like mismatching of fabrics like linen and leather and angora and satin were refreshing and modern. The evening gowns were definitive Wang: slashed-up-to-there skirts channeled the vibe of, as he so put it, “a cummerbund falling apart.”

Runway Review: Alexander Wang

by Americana Guest Blogger, Jim Shi

In two words: no black. So long associated with downtown darkness, Alexander Wang has lightened up—metaphorically speaking—for spring and is starting with a blank canvas if you will. “Pure” and “optimistic” was how he described his decision to deviate (white chalk was featured prominently on his inspiration board) and, had this show taken place during the July NYC heat wave, would have served as a refreshing antidote to some seriously stifling times. In an about face from fall’s Gordon Gekko attitude of pinstripes and lace, Wang constructed a motif that was, well, unconstructed. A painter smock dress opened the show followed by a procession of rigid carpenter’s jackets and pants. Models, whose hair was molded—literally—by clay masks meant for purifying the skin, paraded out in a procession of white, mint and a peachy terra-cotta that was, to be quite frank, a nice change in direction for a designer that’s become so associated with skinny jeans and zippered motorcycle jackets. As for those first-ever in-house prints—scribble and doodle prints? Charming indeed.