It was barely 8:30 on Thursday night and walking down Fourth Street was a downtown type in a fake fur jacket and miniskirt, her legs bare above her boots, despite the stiff November breeze. A thought: The weekend starts early in the East Village. Another thought: Alexander Wang is on to something. His new lookbook opens with a peplumed faux fur chubby and black patent mules, engagement rings slipped over their pointy toes, and not much else. Wang rose to fame in the late 2000s with the model-off-duty vibes of his collections, and here he was, synthesizing the mood of the moment, all over again. The New Look-style circle skirts that are trending for resort? He’ll leave those to other designers.
Walking through the collection in his showroom, Wang said, “date night is going to be our focus as a category, it’s a sweet spot for us.” Hence the slinky stretch-jersey LBDs, some accented with industrial zippers. But this being a cover-all-the-bases pre-season collection, there was suiting and athleisure in the mix, too. Peplums connected them together; even an oversize hoodie was built with a drawstring to create the cinched-waist, flared-hip shape. Elsewhere he experimented with gradient reflective tracksuits that would light up in oncoming traffic or the dance floor. The same motif also turned up on guys’ puffer jackets.