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Designer du jour : ALEXANDER WANG
DYS in Designer, Featured — June 17th, 2008 (92 views / Print this article )
An amazing number of talented fashion designers have emerged from “the underground”, from the brilliant Rodarte sisters, Doo.Ri, Mike & Chris, ThreeAsFour to Ohne Titel. Yet, there are still many undiscovered designers with extraordinary talents which haven’t been widely exposed. Let’s bring those hidden gems to the surface and explore their marvelous journey surviving in this cut-throat industry. We will try to BRIEFLY feature a variety of talented individuals from various creative fields *hopefully related to fashion, art, and beauty, whose dedication and hard work could serve us as inspirations. Our very first designer “du jour” is Alexander Wang, an upcoming designer who has taken the fashion industry by storm at the tender age of 24! Named “the coolest kid in Manhattan“ by Teen Vogue, Wang’s recent collaboration with UNIQLO created a “chaos” during its first launch in Japan.
Alexander Wang, image courtesy of style.blogs.com
HIGHLIGHTS :
- Winner of the 2008 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Emerging Designer category
- CFDA’s Swarovski Award 2008 nominee for Womenswear category *against Rodarte and Thakoon (the winner is Rodarte)
- A recent collaboration with fashion label UNIQLO
Alexander Wang for UNIQLO, image courtesy of stylebyme.net
SIGNATURE LINE :
- Clean, classic, refined silhouettes blend with an effortless urban street chic.
- Mostly known for his “model off-duty” (M.O.D) signature style with a thrown-together aesthetic.
BACKGROUND : Born and raised in San Fransisco, Wang moved to New York at age 18 to attend Parsons School of Design. He dropped out only one year after studying design at Parsons, then launched his first collection predominantly knit and later expanding into denim. His perfectly crafted cashmere sweaters caught the eyes of prominent fashion editors. A full ready-to-wear collection followed in 2007 and currently sold in over 150 boutiques and retail stores worldwide.
PAST INTERNSHIPS: Teen Vogue, Marc Jacobs, Derek Lam
GOAL : To celebrate a woman’s own individuality, and break the conventional idea of a predictable “uniform”.
MUSE : model pal Erin Wasson who is also Wang’s runway stylist.
The dynamic duo : Wang & Wasson, courtesy of teenvogue.com
INSPIRATIONS: His Spring 2008 collection was inspired by Melanie Griffith in 1998 “Working Girl” movie, heavy metal groupies and Charlize Theron’s wardrobe in the Oscar-nominated movie “Monster“.
Melanie Griffith in Working Girl, courtesy of elle.com
HIS S/S 08 COLLECTION: Wang calls it “the return of the tomboy” with a mix of distressed, cuffed denim shorts, androgynous blazers and vests, cropped white tees, and plenty of comfy slouchy shapes.
Alexander Wang, S/S 08, courtesy of elinwahlberg.blogg.se
HIS F/W 08 : inspired by the skater kids of San Fransisco
Alexander Wang F/W 08, courtesy of womens-style.com
FUTURE PROJECT: launching his accessory line, shoes and handbags, in this coming fall 2008.
Manolo Blahnik for Alexander Wang’s S/S 08, courtesy of elle.com
Alexander Wang’s S/S 08 oxford booties, courtesy of tortoisie.livejournal.com
FUN FITTING: Wang lets his models pick their own look during fitting. He said, “I wouldn’t tell shoppers which of my clothes to buy, so why would I tell the models which to wear on the runway? We let them come into their fittings and mostly pick their own stuff.”
FAMOUS QUOTE: “Anyone can get all dressed up and glamorous, but it’s how people dress in their off days that’s most intriguing to me.”
STYLING TIPS: eclectic and mismatching style, taking risk by pairing unexpected pieces to create your very own look. Wang’s fashion mantra : “Fashion should be fun.”
Sources & images courtesy of: alexanderwang.com, teenvogue.com, nymag.com, style.com, thecampusword.com, elle.com
There are 17 comments for this entry. Add yours
Koukla
Oh wow, LOVE his stuff! They look the kinds of clothes I could wear everyday!
June 17th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
cheyqua
huaaa saya suka rancangannya yg mengangkat kembali pesona BOYISH!! hohahaohaoahaohoaha..
June 17th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Lorelai
Keren.. tapi bukan selera gw sih. Kurang GLAM.
(dasar banci norak)
Itu ada yang namanya “Ohne Title” baru tau gw.. Orang Jerman yah?
June 17th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Hanzky
I think he’s all about loose fitting yaa..dan menurut gue style stylenya nggak beda sama yang ada di H&M..hehe..tapi gue pernah liat cashmere vest nya yang kayanya enak banget deh buat dipake. Gue lagi seneng vest dari bahan kaos/sweater tipis2 gitu.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
DYS
Koukla: iyahh bener.. it looks like his stuff r pretty much basic key pieces thrown together.. n mostly slouchy which i love.. so it would hide my love handles and imperfections haha ;d
cheyqua: iyaaa reminded me of my “rebellious” teenage yrs.. jaman tomboy dulu
tp emang lg byk indie designers yg mulai melirik era2 grunge jamdul
Lorelai: heuhe iya ini emang ga gt glam…ntar dicari yg designer yg gaya koleksinya rada burlesque or pin up
.. Ohne Titel *typo gw jg, benernya Titel not Title ;d * designers duo based in NY, label nya emang bhs jerman krn homage ke seorang artis jerman gt.. ntar kita bahas deh label nya di blog jg.. mayan menarik jg
Hanzky: hahaha ember mirip ama H&M esp. yg red label nya: divided bkn ya namanya? atau ga American Apparel ;d pr hipsters di brooklyn & east village di ny benernya jg gayanya smua kaya gt siy.. ;D ohh vest tipis2 gt kayaknya gw liat di american apparel bykk bgtss.. kaos2 gt
June 17th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
lovemybags
g sukaaaa… tp bukan jadinya dia sbg designer yah
kok g jadinya ngeliat dia lebih ke “stylist” ajah. mix & match essential clothing pieces.
sedikit dari topshop, zara, mango + kreativitas ngubek2 di itc dan psr baru ma senen lgs jadi deh LOL
June 17th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
DYS
lovemybags: bener itu jg yg tak sempet pikir baju2nya main di kreativitas styling dan mix & match, itu jg hasil styling si erin wasson sbg stylist/muse si wang kalo ga di styling mungkin jatohnya bener2 jd grunge total hehe ;d
tp emang baju2 Uniqlo basic2 gitu dan nyaman.
mungkin bedanya dr baju2 retailers macam zara n the gank, bahannya kali ya lbh bagus kualitasnya.. gw jg blm pernah megang langsung, cm liat yg di Uniqlo doang.. itu jg bukan koleksi inti dia, hanya koleksi dia utk Uniqlo yg lumayan cuttingnya menarik walau sepintas biasa tp di coba di bdn jatuhnya mayan dan enak
June 18th, 2008 at 2:16 am
putri_bramantyo
I love his design, ga terlalu girlie, comes in classic black, white n grey, perfect for me to snuggle up n hide everything that dangles on my body,huehueheuheheee..n the shoes!!!drool!!!
June 19th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
rully
du…du..du spokat2nya yg plg bawah bikin ngiler…
btw designnya not my style duehhh too teenage buat gw yg udin certain of age hehehe
June 19th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
cocomomo
wah, simple & wear-able! wah, barus ekarang liat gambar desainer kotak-kotak minimalis gitu. hehehehe **habis browse Arturo Elena soalnya**
June 19th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
lovemybags
dys, iyah emang… pasti bahan berpengaruh banget yah? apalagi cutting. kadang satu model pakaian polos yg simple, tp cuttingnya asal, jadinya jelek.
kayak kalo kita bikin baju full manik2 ata mote2, cutting&jahitan nggak terlalu rapih pasti masih keliatan ok karena “ketutupan”.
tapi kalo polos, wah, jahitan miring dikit langsung keliatan. kayak baju weddingnya vera wang aja tuh, polosss bener, tp ternyata fitting an nya lebih repot daripada yg bermanik2 dimana2
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:08 am
Beauty Queen
All his creations are simple yet elegant perfect for Urban clothing.
June 24th, 2008 at 7:22 am
purplerebel
love it! love it! love it!
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:15 am
Vortue
oooo…cakep stuffnya dy…nyantai…tp masi kesan feminim…
July 24th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Ornella
I am interesting in buying the boots that Manolo Blanik designed for F/W Alexander Wang collection, where I can get them???
August 20th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
DYS
Hi Ornella
have you checked his website?? it has a store locator within US and International and you could just browse there for all the stores including online stores that carry his line…
So, if you’re interested, pls visit:
http://www.alexanderwang.com
and click STORE LOCATOR
if you’re in Indonesia, he’s available at JADE Boutique, Jakarta.
hope that helps
August 21st, 2008 at 12:07 am
Ornella
I wrote to Alexander Wang Sales Assistant and he told me to check the Manolo Blahnik Website and that they don’t know where I can get them
August 21st, 2008 at 2:58 pm