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
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Balenciaga chooses Wang: goodbye to Haute Couture, welcome Prêt-à-Porter!
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James Sorrentino by Drew Whittam
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Neural Signals
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