Newsmaker Of The Week : Alexander Wang
Our Newsmaker this week is Alexander Wang.
The young designer who recently parted ways with Paris-based luxury house Balenciaga is one of the products of his generation.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Wang moved to New York City at eighteen to partake in several internships in fashion editorial and design. After just one year of studying design at Parsons and interning at Teen Vogue, Wang felt confident enough to drop out of Parsons design college and set up a business.
In 2005 he launched an eponymous collection of perfectly crafted cashmere sweaters that won fashion editors over and took the fashion world by storm. He debuted his first full range of ready-to-wear in spring 2007 and in 2009 Wang took home the CFDA Swarovski Award for emerging women’s wear designer. With the prize money from the CFDA he expanded his business consequently, launching a collection of handbags. In 2011, he launched his flagship boutique in SoHo with an autumn/winter 2011 catwalk show in New York.
Wang is often refereed to as the ‘rock star’ designer of his generation because of his signature “model-off-duty” style. In 2012 he took over as creative director at Balenciaga following Nicolas Ghesquire’s departure. His appointment surprised the fashion world in part due to his maintaining his own brand. However his 10 collections for the brand was met with a generally positive reaction. Wang’s last show from his forthcoming spring/summer 2016 collection for Balenciaga will be on October 2 in Paris.
Wang will be devoting himself full-time to his own brand in which he has a minority investment and is close to signing a deal with General Atlantic, the growth equity firm headed by William Ford. His sights set forward on expanding his eponymous New York-based label which he dreams of a Ralph Lauren-sized design empire Wang shows no signs of slowing down.
For more on Wang visit his profile on FMD and check back next week to find out who our next Newsmaker is.
