This season, New York Fashion Week belongs to Alexander Wang. His show on Saturday evening gave the Balenciaga-bound designer one last chance to celebrate his outsized achievements on home turf.
And celebrate he did. Wang showed a mature, expensive-looking collection that showed hes going to expand into Balenciagas couture legacy just fine, thankyouverymuch.
It all started with a long grey coat. As a remix of Eye of the Tiger blasted over the sound system, the first model stepped out in a hijab-like hoodie (with a hole for a cognac-red ponytail), dropped-waist coat and furry, elongated boxing gloves.
Integrated sashes cinched in waists as they crossed over the fronts of chubby mohair knits and leather jackets. Sequins twinkled in a gridded design on jumpers and skirts. Leather was burnt or cut into a camouflage pattern in dresses and a stiff-sleeved tee.
This being a Wang show, the accessories were just as important as the clothes. Shoes looked like a stylist had rolled socks down over pointy-toed wedges. An accordion/briefcase of a handbag flopped at the end of many a models arm, further indicating the boardroom-colonising ambitions of a designer who once catered exclusively to hot young things.
Looks took a dressier turn near the end of the show. Folded grey coats with stiff, sequinned sleeves and drapey collared tops had a definite evening feel, especially when they featured deep-V backs. Backstage, Wang said these were his take on evening silhouettes from the 30s and 40s. Its elevating the everyday and downplaying the [special], he said.
As for how he felt after presenting his final solo show before his Balenciaga debut, Wang said, Its an amazing feeling. The shows not over. One more stop to go. And then onward and upward, were sure.
