Alexander Wang for Balenciaga

For five years now Alexander Wang (28) has kicked off almost every single fashion season as one of the first designers to show during New York Fashion Week. Since 2007 the young designer has managed to generate raving reviews and created a solid international fanbase of people crazy for his sportswear inspired, edge creations. Wang has high profile fans all around the world; from Rihanna to Olivia Palermo and12 own stores even though the fashion house is still a family business.

And while the success of this young label continues to grow, Wang is taking on another challenge at Balenciaga (and will travel between New York and Paris to do so). As the new creative director of the Parisian fashion house Wang will follow in the footsteps of Nicolas Ghesquière, who left the house last month after 15 years. A new designer potentially means the start of a new Balenciaga era.

With Wang on board the French label might be able to reach a wider audience, create more selling points and perhaps even better price points. And maybe Balenciaga, which has been high end and exclusive (even the number of catwalk photographers allowed at shows was extremely limited) since it was founded by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1937, could use a bit of Wang’s American commercialism. Even though the label did very well with Ghesquière as it’s designer.

There’s no doubt Wang will do a great job as Ghesquière’s successor. But, what can we expect?

The sporty elements and the mixing of materials will stay, no doubt about that. Wang, who is already going through Balenciaga’s archives, might start experimenting with more colors and prints, something he never really did for his own (very black-oriented) label. We might start to see more of Balenciaga’s heritage brought back to live. Clothing may become more approachable once Wang’s extraordinary streetwise twist is added. And perhaps the thirties fashion house will get a modern touch up (even though this winter’s out of the blue galaxy prints were pretty futuristic) in order to reach a global audience.

Yet the CEO of Balenciaga’s parent company PPR, François-Henri Pinault, already stated not a whole lot is going to change: “The challenge taken by Alexander, which I really liked in discussions with him, is for him to express his talent in a different situation for another brand with its own DNA, and he’s absolutely excited with that.”

One thing’s for certain; his first autumn/winter 2013/2014 shake up is going to be a good one. And we can’t wait to take a sip from this Balenciaga-Wang cocktail.

Let’s take a look back on some of Wang’s most outstanding designs in the gallery below.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2013

The glow in the dark-effect on the ivory clothes of Alexander Wang was a cool ending to his ss2013 presentation. The impression left after a very fast show was one of sharp, minimalist sport. There were boxy “hockey jerseys” worn over tailored shorts — skinny and Bermuda styles — and some of the models wore lacquered porcelain helmets. Wang rarely strayed from black and white, and when he did, it was a few notes of beige leather and gray. The silhouette was  spare and crisp, in stark cotton and exotics, such as snakeskin.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2012

That was a dark show and a tough and sharp fall-collection Alexander Wang presented yesterday. Again Wang played with perceptions by manipulating his fabrics.

Fabrics looked stiff and shiny, the palette was white, black and a bit of oxblood. The silhouette was graphic, with lacquered merino wool tweeds, waxed suedes and shrink wrapped-jacquard knits. 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. Sometimes it reflected a mood of chic aggression.

After the models took their final walk, the lights changed and out came a more elite and elder pack of models, including Shalom Harlow, Karolina Kurkova and Gisele Bündchen as the finale. The looks they wore were the same but with less shine, more refinement and more tailoring.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2011

The collection Alexander Wang sent out yesterday was based on thick padded ponchos, quilted on the inside, that looked as if the models had pulled duvet covers over their heads. All the lush, cocoon-y outerwear was clever, with hybrids of bomber jacket-turned-poncho, boyfriend blazer-turned-fur coat, and a tuxedo jacket with puffer sleeves.

Sometimes it looked a bit exaggerated and over the top, but that’s just what Wang had in mind. He wanted to make some fun of decadence and luxury. A key element of the collection was the use of technologically advanced fabrics that combined knits and woven silk in a single piece, the result worked out beautifully. But there were more materials he used unexpectedly: everyday fleece or techno Neoprene for elegant outfits, jogging pants in luxurious pony skin; and eye goggles framed with fur. Even when the clothes were relatively classic, like bias-cut satin dresses, the skirts unraveled into ribbon streamers to give the look a twist.

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York SS2011

The fashion show of 26-year old designer Alexander Wang was one of the first big shows of New York Fashion Week. Celebs like Lenny Kravitz, M.I.A en model Erin Wasson attended the show, which seemed to be inspired by painters.

Models walked the runway like they’d just left their painting jobs, they had white paint (which was actually clay) in their hair and were wearing white overalls. All clothes were very loose-fitting and therefore appeared rather street-chic.

The girls all looked very fresh in their light-colored outfits. Their bleached eyebrows and clean faces added to that. Knowing Alexander Wang normally uses lots of black this lightness came as quite a surprise.

Like more designers this season Wang chose to work with parachute silk. He showed some printed versions (on which unfinished crossword puzzles could be seen) and combined it with sheer fabrics. Apart from the white he introduced some funky mint green and a couple of terracotta-shaded designs.

The collection was cool and fresh and is sure to become a hit. The designs are not quite the catch for women looking for lady-like clothes, but the ‘models off-duty’, Wang usually designs for, are bound to fall in love with them.

Fashion Focus: all about Alexander Wang

 

 

 

Name of the brand: Alexander Wang

Name(s ) of the designer(s):  Alexander Wang

About the designer(s):  Alexander Wang (1984) was born and raised in San Francisco. He moved to New York City at the age of eighteen to try his hand at designing clothes. He studied one year at Parsos and did an internship at Teen Vogue. Then he decided to quit school and launched his first collection. It was immediately very well received. Everyone loved his perfectly crafted cashmere sweaters.

Start of the brand: 2007

First collection: spring 2007

The Wang woman: has a streetchic style and likes to mix and match

Wang women: Rachel Bilson, Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan, Erin Wasson, Megan Fox, Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow

The clothes are: edgy, masculine, well taillored, casual, cool, sexy vs androgyny, French chic and rock grunge. They are always finished with a slouchy rolled-out-of-bed edge.

Type of clothes: Alexander Wang makes a full range of ready to wear pieces, from distressed boyfriend jeans and shrunken vests to, of course, covetable cozy cardigans. The inspiration comes from the street and thus the clothes have a downtown feeling.

Signature: model-off-duty style

Collaborations: Alexander Wang for Keds (Fall 2008), Alexander Wang for Uniqlo, capsule collection (May 2008).

Quotes:

• ‘There are pros and cons to starting so young. In the beginning, people said, ‘I’ve never heard of this person, he’s what, 21?’. There are stereotypes, but the greatest satisfaction has been proving them wrong.’
• I didn’t have any investors. My mum and I, my sister-in-law and my brother, we’re the four partners”
• It’s all those quirky people you just bump into that inspire me the most.’
• “When I started out, I wanted to pick one familiar item that evoked luxury—cashmere was perfect. But moving forward, I want to make it more of a lifestyle brand. I kind of want to be the new Theory.”

Awards: he won the CDFA Fashion Fund, which was 20.000 USD.

Extra:
Wang’s favorite outfit is skinny jeans, T-shirt and a backpack
He has a simple belief that has taken him very far: ‘I’m in New York City – I can do anything I put my heart to.’
He got an internship at Marc Jacobs
He always keeps in mind an advice Marc Jacobs gave to him: ‘Give them something that’s going to take time to sink in. By the time they get it, change it again – you’ve got to keep them guessing!’
He showed his first collection to an editor at Teen Vogue. She loved it
He was already cutting frocks at the age of fifteen
He named one of his shoe designs after Dutch Model Mirte Maas
(The pictures you see are of the fall/winter 2010/2011 collection)

Alexander Wang Catwalk Fashion Show New York FW2010

It looked like Alexander Wang took the traditional banker’s uniform – the darkblue pinstriped suit – deconstructed it and put it together again. The result was sexy and dark, almost with a Belgian touch. But where designers like An Demeulemeester and the early Martin Margiela put a lot of effort in the making, the cut and the fit, it seemed Wang aimed more at the effect. Cropped blazers, tailcoats and vests exposed flashes of skin and were worn with thick thigh-high legwarmers and chunky heels. Layering also played a part in this collection, but was less relaxed. For evening and partywear Wang chose velvet and chenille.

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