Alexander Wang F/W 13.14 New York

[jemina]

I love some pieces but collection all together just doesn't work for me.

 

[HeatherAnne]

I'm hardly a Wang fan, but I thought this was quite beautifully done, especially since he must be more than a little preoccupied with Balenciaga. Would I wear any of these looks head-to-toe? No, they look a little heavy and unflattering, but individually I think the pieces would be very sexy when paired with some sleeker items.

 

[Deleted member 7575]

Lots of Rick Owens in this, but without the poetry and conviction.

 

[softgrey]

i am clearly not the customer for this......

it's very 'fashion victim'...
IE- gimmicky and unflattering and expensive
the sheep will follow...
they always do...

 

[glamrockgal]

except the first 4 looks' gloves, I liked the collection in general.Wang is my favorite designer so far

 

[Phuel]

i am clearly not the customer for this......

it's very 'fashion victim'...
IE- gimmicky and unflattering and expensive
the sheep will follow...
they always do...

To be fair, a lot of high fashion is gimmicky and makes the wearer instant walking fashion victims. I think Anne and Rei are incredible and true Rumpelstiltskins-- when it comes to their womenswear, but I'm no fan of their menswear and think it's one definition of fashion victim wear most of the time. Miuccia is all kinds of awesome to me, but those stupid juvenile scrawls resembling flowers for S/S 2013 are a complete joke to me.

As for Wang, I like this collection for what it is and I'm no fawning fan of his: He's like a charming popstar with just a touch of the contrived/forced quirkiness to appeal to and excite the masses without being too severe. He doesn't come across to me as someone who takes his fashion too seriously, so I definitely don't.

Alexander's collections have become "let's spot all the European designers he's shamelessly ripped off" season after season, there's no denying that. Despite this, I do feel he's the best of the current crop of overhyped and overexposed American "New Guard". To me, it's really just Alexander, and the others are just there to prop him up. These new kids are nothing compared to Ralph, Calvin and Donna. But Alexander, as much as he rips off the big boys, he's still able to do it with some direction and pull it together into a statement for the season. And more importantly, it doesn't look messy and a ragtag of odds and ends in a desperation to look daring-- like Prabal Gurung, or so bland it looks like a selection from a department store cobbled together as a collection like Jason Wu's; or the always over-the-top caricature that is Zac Posen masquerading as glamour and elegance. They're all decent-enough stylists trying to come off as important designers, but Alexander's efforts actually looks like a collection with just enough appeal to me (minus the exposed staples)-- even if it's just to sell more bags and tees and sweatpants from his T line.

 

[Label Basher]

I REALLY hope this is not the way Balenciaga is going to look.

 

[LianaBrandt]

I, for one, LOVE the fur gloves. But then again, I box, so I already have a fondness for that silhouette.

 

[ogepma]

I am in love with the first quarter of this collection. The initial coats, the fur gloves and the head warmers are all sublime. However, just before the start of the middle, everything went downhill for me. The awkward proportions on those coats, which in my eyes look like mistakes, spoil it for me. I just fell they weren't worthy of being in the same collection as the first part. And I can see the obvious Balenciaga references from F/W 2012 (which I was in no way a fan of). I am still very uncomfortable with this guy helming Balenciaga but at the same time, I am curious to see what he does. His suggestions for evening were forward looking which was nice and the pants were nice as well. All in all, a mixed bag for me. Certainly nowhere near last seasons spectacular show.

 

[Caffeine]

Oh come on!!. If any of you see a "more structured" coat IMMEDIATELY you say "BALENCIAGA" I really think this is just a WANG show (not one with "Balenciaga references" to get us excited for Paris, like some people said)... I loved this collection, and the part impressed me the most was the pants! I liked how they were made..I don't know how to explain it (one side of it ended in the opposite side(?) ) but it looked great on movement.
***do not quote images***
style.com

that jacket is so wrong on so many levels

 

[ad31214]

Alexander Wang F/W 2013

youtube.com/style

 

[Deleted member 7575]

that jacket is so wrong on so many levels

Oh no, ohhhh noooooooooo

 

[reese06]

Cathy Horyn dragged him...

There was splendid irony in Alexander Wang’s bon voyage collection, shown in the former ticketing hall of the Cunard Building in Lower Manhattan. He’s off to France to design Balenciaga.

Cunard completed the building in 1921, when Coco Chanel and Jeanne Lanvin were hot, and Paul Poiret was broke. I was tempted to dig up some fashion columns from the era to refer to the type of drop-waist coats that Mr. Wang showed, but I didn’t have time. Besides, anyone can Google those ’20s styles: the draped blouse with a wide waistband, the plucky walking skirt, the tops with a twist in front. Even the wool socks that cuffed the models’ shoes vaguely recalled stockings indecently rolled down to the ankles.
The amount of foggy, soupy gray in the show would have delighted James Cameron.
No, Mr. Wang picked the silliest, most hackneyed theme, and managed to make it work.
There were a few problems.
Like many designers of his generation, Mr. Wang has a gift for essentially Photoshopping two or three unrelated styles to make a look that feels contemporary. Paired with those sack coats and skirts were mohair hoodies. More forthright, and modern, were evening tops in white or black duchess satin with a banded waist; they were worn with tailored pants.
But all too often the effort to blend styles showed, or the results looked as leaden as the grays. Phoebe Philo may have also had her eye on those twist-front tops, last season, but in her case the results looked gracefully tossed off.
Another problem that Mr. Wang has perennially is fabrics. That’s strange to say about a designer, but some fabrics and furs in this show looked as thick as upholstery. A light hand he does not have. And I thought it was a little bit funny when, at the end of the show, Mr. Wang bolted down the runway, taking the steps two at a time. If a woman in one of his coats tried that, she’d be overheating like a Model T.

 

[Littleathquakes]

Damn Cathy. I still love her, though.

 

[ad041715]

This was way too austere. There's no fun in his collections anymore, just a sea of blacks and grays only an eskimo could love.

 

[softgrey]

To be fair, a lot of high fashion is gimmicky and makes the wearer instant walking fashion victims. I think Anne and Rei are incredible and true Rumpelstiltskins-- when it comes to their womenswear, but I'm no fan of their menswear and think it's one definition of fashion victim wear most of the time. Miuccia is all kinds of awesome to me, but those stupid juvenile scrawls resembling flowers for S/S 2013 are a complete joke to me.

As for Wang, I like this collection for what it is and I'm no fawning fan of his: He's like a charming popstar with just a touch of the contrived/forced quirkiness to appeal to and excite the masses without being too severe. He doesn't come across to me as someone who takes his fashion too seriously, so I definitely don't.

Alexander's collections have become "let's spot all the European designers he's shamelessly ripped off" season after season, there's no denying that. Despite this, I do feel he's the best of the current crop of overhyped and overexposed American "New Guard". To me, it's really just Alexander, and the others are just there to prop him up. These new kids are nothing compared to Ralph, Calvin and Donna. But Alexander, as much as he rips off the big boys, he's still able to do it with some direction and pull it together into a statement for the season. And more importantly, it doesn't look messy and a ragtag of odds and ends in a desperation to look daring-- like Prabal Gurung, or so bland it looks like a selection from a department store cobbled together as a collection like Jason Wu's; or the always over-the-top caricature that is Zac Posen masquerading as glamour and elegance. They're all decent-enough stylists trying to come off as important designers, but Alexander's efforts actually looks like a collection with just enough appeal to me (minus the exposed staples)-- even if it's
just to sell more bags and tees and sweatpants from his T line.

nice post---

what i actually think he does best is shoes...
and i think they sell well too...
but i don't know WHAT the hell is on these girls' feet this season...


it's fine...
i didn't say it was bad...
just that it's not 'for me'...literally...
but neither is saint laurent...
i've got my fingers crossed that jil sander will come through with something for fall...

for menswear- i always like some things from junya...
i think it's always sexy somehow...
like his womenswear...
maybe not in an obvious way...but that's why i like it...

 

[softgrey]

i also really agree with what cathy horyn said about the fabrics...
they just looked super stiff... esp the coats...
like straightjackets really...


not good...
.

 

[Scott]

i was just going to say......a typical no-holds barred cathy horyn review. everything she says is absolutely true.

looking at what i've just looked at,i seriously can't wait for the disaster that's about unfold in paris. he's a terrible designer. sorry but i just can't beat around that bush anymore. and i have to disagree about not taking him seriously. obviously the fashion public have as well as other fashion professionals,otherwise he wouldn't have been given such a lucrative position at balenciaga. for that we have to take it seriously because it speaks to all those disgustingly banal attributes you noted,this industry has somehow become increasingly obsessed with. valuing popularity and lacklustre design skills over talent is what we've become. and this collection like rodarte's and every bloody celeb crap-line,have illustrated that very finely.

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

what i am worried about is if his original customer target still the same? The Wang girl who is cool and doesnt take fashion to serious is right up there with the others who do. Also the expensive look of this collection doesn't seem very downtown with the exception of some pieces. I think heading to Balenciaga will allow him to carry his new found expensive taste there and balance it with his Wang girl

 

[Phuel]

Scott: I agree Wang and some others are propped up and hyped up to such importance by the Powers That Be of the industry because of their business-buidling potentials-- not for their talent and vision It's all very serious manipulation to sell, sell sell. I just don't see Wang taking his designs in a serious statement-making direction as if he's the Second Coming of fashion. He's not waxing philosophical enlightenment, or wanting to progress fashion in any innovative manner. The bosses are pushing for and manufacturing Wang as the new, undisputed, frothy and mostest-popular Pop star of the fashion world that will sell, sell, sell. That's what the Anna Wintours and PPR Groups of the industry wants-- a celebrity designer who sells. And who can blame them... Their motives are so shamelessly transparent, but most business ventures usually are.

If you don't like Alexander's designs now, I don't think his lead at Balenciaga will change your mind. One thing's for sure: He can copy/rip off Nicholas's Balenciaga all he wants and no one can accuse him of doing it since he is Balenciaga now! I sense his work at Balenciaga will be much like Sarah's work at McQueen; just variations of Nicholas' Balenciaga over and over, but more accessible and trendy. I hope he will at least sharpen his tailoring skills and improve on construction now that the Balenciaga archive is his oyster.

I like Cathryn's description of Wang and his generation "photoshopping " various designers to create their Frankensteins. This generation of designers are nowhere being close to the likes of Rei, Ann, Yohji, Helmut, Martin, etc, that's for sure. I think it's just a reflection of the times we're living in; where rip-off artists are a plenty. So in that sense, they're not serious about breaking new fashion frontiers-- and maybe they don't want to. Oh well.