International

Designer
ALEXNDER WANG
Sakshi Wadgaye
EARLY LIFE AND
EDUCATION:

• Born in San Francisco to parents of Taiwanese

descent.
• At fifteen years old, Wang took part in a summer
design program at Central Saint Martins.
• At age eighteen, Wang moved to New York City to
attend Parsons School of Design. He left his program
after two years to begin his professional career and did
not graduate.
• After dropping out in his second year, he began his
own label in 2004 (which launched with a range of
unisex cashmere sweaters) at just 19.
CAREER
2005–2012: Early career
• In 2005, after two years at Parsons, Wang decided to pursue the
launch of his own fashion label, which began with a predominantly
knitwear collection. In Fall 2007, Wang presented a complete women's
ready-to-wear collection on the New York catwalk for the first time, to
critical acclaim.That same year, he launched his first handbag
collection.
• After designing a Fall 2008 collection using black as the predominant
color, he designed his Spring 2009 collection using bright colors such
as orange, dusty purple, aqua and hot pink. In the meantime he has
reverted to using mainly black fabrics, and is often praised for
exhibiting outstanding tailoring skills.
• Alexander Wang's first flagship store opened in SoHo, Lower
Manhattan, on February 17, 2011.
Present: Balenciaga and return to eponymous brand
• On November 30, 2012, Women's Wear Daily reported that Wang has been named
Creative Director at Balenciaga after Nicolas Ghesquière departed from the French house.
As Creative Director for Balenciaga, Alexander Wang would oversee the Women's and
Men's ready-to-wear and accessories lines.
• On April 13, 2014, it was announced that Alexander Wang would be the next designer to
create a collection for Swedish-based fashion retailer H&M. The collection with H&M
included pieces for both men and women, as well as a selection of his famed accessories.
• On July 31, 2015, Kering issued a press release announcing that Wang will leave
Balenciaga by mutual consent.
• In 2016, Wang became the CEO and chairman of the Wang brand, succeeding his mother,
Ying Wang, and sister-in-law, Aimee Wang. Wang hosted a 2016 New York Fashion Week
show.
STYLE:

• The style of his successful label embodies edgy

downtown chic that is wearable even off the
runway. Alexander likes to describe the style of
his brand as “M.O.D.” aka “Model-Off-
Duty” and we cannot agree more
• The Fall 2018 Ready-to-Wear collection
Alexander introduced in February, received
only positive appraisals from the critics.
• In the spirit of his M.O.D. philosophy,
Alexander combined easily wearable pieces
such as sweatpants, cardigans, and skirts with
edgy embellishments like gemstones, studs,
and materials like leather, PVC or fur.
• The color scheme of the collection is set in
black, grey and white tones with a pop of
cyclamen pink. The stylings are giving us sexy
matrix slash secret spy vibes! Not only are the
pieces incredibly hip but also surprisingly easy
to pull off.
• In November, Alexander Wang said he was skipping out on fashion shows in 2020 in
favor of a 15th anniversary blowout. The choice was unfortunately prophetic;
withCOVID-19 locking down much of America, Wang never had the chance to have a
party, a shopping event, not even a trip on the party bus around Manhattan. But also
prophetically, he asked Steven Klein to photograph his fall 2020 collection on a cast
of his favorite models—Gigi Hadid to Binx Walton—in December.
• The clothes that make up the collection are oddly prescient too—or maybe not.
Glamleisure is par for the course of any Wang garment, and many of the themes he
started to work on in seasons past resurfaced here. T-shirts and sweatshirts are
ruched into couch-worthy corsetry while denim is used both for tailoring and for
slouchy shorts.
• That’s smart business, but what about smart design? It’s the closing looks of this
collection that push Wang’s aesthetic further, a set of dramatically off-kilter
minidresses in neoprene and velvet with high shoulders jutting up or out, frantically
popped collars, and dangerously asymmetric hems. They are the rare Wang Squad
garm that prizes silhouette apart from sex appeal—an interesting new path for the
designer to experiment with for his next 15 years in business