Balenciaga chooses Wang: goodbye to Haute Couture, welcome Prêt-à-Porter!
by Luca Imbimbo
And in the end it seems that he will win out… Who? Alexander Wang!
The rumor was from WWD. Balenciaga has confirmed it… The Nicolas Ghesquière‘s successor at the helm of the Maison Balenciaga will be the young American designer.
A lot of young designers entered the lists… Pedro Lourenco, Jack McCollough, Joseph Altuzarra, Bouchra Jarrar, Lazaro Hernandez, Olivier Theysken: the best of the fashion new generation!
To compete for the art director’s crown also Mary Katrantzou and his eccentric architecouture, J.W. Anderson, who instead signed with Versus, Natacha Ramsay, already a Ghesquière’s collaborator, and especially the highly acclaimed Christopher Kane, back from the recent separation with Versace. Nothing to do! The winner was the sporty-chic style, vaguely grunge, typically American of Wang…
Twenty-nine years. Taiwanese origins. Born and raised in San Francisco. After studying at Parsons School of Design in New York, in 2005 he founds his Fashion House. Worshiped by Anna Wintour, in 2008 he wins the Fashion Fund Award organized by Vogue and receives numerous awards from the Council of Fashion Designers. In the same year’s F/W Collection he uses the black. In the next one he screams “They wanted color, they will have color!” and dares with bright shades. He creates a bag – the It-bag Rocco Style – which becomes iconic. He launches its T by Alexander Wang, a line of t-shirt that in a short time is a huge hit. Its strong point? Undoubtedly the accessories!
Basic cuts. A wise use of natural materials: cashmere, linen, cotton. Clean lines. Alexander Wang is known to give his creations a more metropolitan, informal, casual look… Was even this approach so different from Ghesquière’s trendy haute couture to please the Ppr Group that manages the brand? Maybe, has been this reckless theatricality, the exuberant artistic flair of the French preferred to a more easy and responsive to market needs design? At the time, the reasons that lie behind this decision are still unknown…
Reckoning with the fashion world’s Gota will not be so easy for Wang… Treading the Paris runways will be a hard challenge… Heavy, very heavy is the legacy of his predecessor. We are confident… That fresh and realistically prêt-à-porter style that distinguishes him might actually be the best choice… Nothing to add… Cristóbal has his successor… Congratulation!
James Sorrentino by Drew Whittam
Neural Signals
actual
Balenciaga chooses Wang: goodbye to Haute Couture, welcome Prêt-à-Porter!
previous
James Sorrentino by Drew Whittam
next
Neural Signals
The Carhartt WIP Active Jacket is turning fifty. To mark the occasion, the brand has created four special-edition designs.
Maison Margiela has released “A Tabi film,” a close look at one of its most important symbols.
The Prada Holiday 2025 campaign tells a winter’s tale.
The project celebrates over 170 years of combined heritage and a shared passion for adventure
BERSHKA presents a new chapter of its SERIES line, titled “Own Your Power.”
With JALEO, presented at 080 Barcelona Fashion, the designer takes a decisive step forward. The collection feels like a homecoming and a declaration at once.
In a restored 1906 mansion, Soho House opens its third Barcelona address, bringing together heritage, art, and wellbeing.
The Parisian brand Drôle de Monsieur is entering the world of fine jewelry through a collaboration with the American designer David Perry.
ROSALÍA’s new single, “Berghain,” is the first glimpse of her upcoming album LUX (out on November 7), and it immediately establishes a new scale for her work.
Pull&Bear chose a significant moment to launch its new collaboration. The brand presented its capsule collection with the American streetwear label PLEASURES at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Somewhere between the sea and the city, the brand PANTALON created its TUNA collection.
The party was supposed to last forever. This is the faith that pulses through Christian Stemmler’s photobook, “ANFANG/BEGINNING: BERLIN 1994–99”.
Kokoshkin Vladislav photographed by Marie Schuldigen and styled by Zakharieva Anna, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
For Halloween, the brand GENZERO has reimagined its signature Doberman hat.
Gentle Monster has opened its first flagship store in continental Europe, located in the historic Le Marais district of Paris.
Dr. Martens presents the QUBIST, a new collection that redefines the brand’s approach to comfort.
Palaye Royale is one of those groups capable of dissolving distance, of turning music into a bridge of time and emotion.
This partnership is part of MR PORTER’s Health In Mind initiative, which focuses on men’s mental health.
After nearly a year of anticipation, TOMBOGO® has released its Fall/Winter 2025 capsule collection.
The designs are a focused study, drawing inspiration from the college-sports culture of the American South.
JW Anderson has launched a new campaign for its Loafer Bag, starring the actor John Malkovich.
Glass Cypress unveils the lookbook for its Fall/Winter 2025 collection, titled “SOMETHING IN THE WAY.”
Études Studio unveiled the lookbook for its Fall/Winter 2025 collection, shot by Erik Gustafsson and styled by Pau Avia.
Salomon and the Latin Grammy-winning artist FERXXO have launched a new sneaker, the XT-Pathway 2 FERXXO.
Dominik Datko and Maciej Poplonyk photographed by Arthur Iskandarov and styled by Egor Telenchenko, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
Burberry is celebrating its iconic Check scarf with a new portrait series. It features friends of the house, including Olivia Colman, Liu Wen, and Tyson Beckford.
Solomon Fox moves between worlds, Harvard and Hollywood, viral memes and soft bedroom beats, eighty acres of Virginia quiet, and the digital noise of now.
Designed with the architecture firm Sybarite, the space is called Marine Serre Hannam House.
Intodusk is a New York brand founded by Dustin Hellinger and Veska Naratama.
The arrival of Tame Impala’s new album “Deadbeat” is nothing short of a warm welcome back into the universe of creative sonic exploration that the Australian mastermind Kevin Parker has been charting since the project began.
