Alexander Wang chose a church - a pretty grand one, St Bartholomew Episcopal Church on Park Avenue, as the venue for his first official life-after-Paris show. There’s been talk about what the designer would do now he can focus his energy (and the kid has a lot of energy) solely on his namesake brand. So, from last season’s Hooters-catered, pole-dancing post-divorce blowout to church? Not quite an Amen. Those pole-dancers? They showed up again, this time silhouetted on speckled sweatshirts and embroidered on corduroy trousers. That ‘floral’ pattern on a fuzzy wool coat and the lace inserts on the sexy little numbers at the end? Your humble pot leaf.
From the chains around the models’ necks to the sheer tops whose ‘modesty’ bands read 'Strict' to the buckles and studs and mini-everything, Wang strove to entertain and maybe shock. He certainly succeeded at the former. Shock? As if. Those very Clueless, very mini tweed skirt suits however were a nice surprise as were the zip-up coat/minis that followed, frayed and interwoven with leather panels. The hemline of one was trimmed with metal bands and hardwear appeared again and again, like on a big mohair green sweater dress. The oversized denim jackets, lined with shearling – washed-out pink in one, black in another – were great and so were the big puffa jackets, one of which spelled ‘County’ on its back. Wang has always been good at putting his message across. His own jacket had ‘Holy’ and ‘Smoke’ on it. Message received loud and clear. Well, a little hazy, actually.
