Athletic chic is one of the week s early trends, but for Alexander Wang it s basically encoded into his tough-girl, street-wear DNA. This time around, the designer felt a need for speed, taking inspiration from a full buffet of velocity—NASCAR, BMX, motocross; he even claimed to have mined a sneaker factory for fabrics.
Wang may sell at a contemporary price, but the way he evolves an idea has distinct designer finesse. He cycled easily through the collection s groups—or "gangs," as he called them. It was a jam-packed journey beginning with great dark laser-cut mesh bombers that revealed a dot matrix of bright polos layered beneath. These were followed by nylon cargo couture florals (peplums and pockets!), sexy race-car instarsia knits, and little body-con lasered leather minidresses. There s a real cleverness to the way Wang develops something like a fascination with mesh from the real deal into the grommets on a coat and a trompe l oeil print on the sleeve of a cropped floral hoodie. And those tribal-looking motifs on the sheer jerseys that closed the show? Stadium seating maps.
More importantly, all Wang s ideas yielded a whole lot of great merch beyond the shoes (today a pointy, strappy nineties-ish pump) and bags. There was little you couldn t see hanging on a rack, walking down the street. And that s a good thing. Wang is opening his second flagship early next year in Beijing and plans to open seven more in Asia and Europe before year s end. The fast track chez Wang isn t just a motif.
