Women's
Conversation With: Alexander Wang
Ken Downing and Alexander Wang catch up in NYC.
KEN DOWNING: Alex, you are considered one of the most brilliant and, might I say, coolest young talents on the American scene today. How old were you when you started your first collection?
ALEXANDER WANG: I was only 20 years old. It was my sophomore year of college. I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing, but I was determined to make it work. It was only six sweaters. I didn’t know what a line sheet was. I had no merchandising skills. All I knew was I wanted to design.
Alexander Wang, Spring 2013.
…I find that I’m inspired by others around me, how people dress on the streets. It was a real challenge for me in design school. I found the ideas of fashion I was being taught were very one dimensional to my ideas of what high fashion was all about. You know, the idea of what was agreeable, what was considered luxurious. I always felt T-shirts and sweatpants, when well designed, can be the most valuable things.
Alexander Wang, Spring 2013.
KD: You have always loved a nod to the idea of gymnasium chic. You were one of the first designers in recent history to reengage with locker-room themes. You really put the whole idea of a sportif motif in motion. I think yours was one of the first shows where we saw running shorts walk the runway in quite some time.
AW: I didn’t start it. I just get into peoples’ personal style… It’s about a lifestyle.
KD: You are more than a lifestyle, you are an international brand—runway collections, handbags, shoes, and your amazing T by Alexander Wang line. Those are my favorite T-shirts in the world. Supercool and supersoft.
AW: I am passionate about my T collection. We are always developing the collection with washing techniques. Soda water enzymes, washing them in rubber balls…
KD: Rubber balls?
AW: Oh, yeah! It gives them this great worn feel and they become slightly misshapen. I love a T-shirt that looks like it was slept in. Growing up in California had a big influence on me and my relaxed sense of style.
Alexander Wang, Fall 2012.
KD: You also love a jacket.
AW: I always start with the jacket. You know I love layering—I have always believed the jacket is the perfect place to start a look.
Alexander Wang, Fall 2012.
The full conversation can be read in the October issue of The Book.
Alexander Wang takes a bow after his Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week.
