Alexander Wang is back with “Fortune City” runway show

By

Chenu Alexis

Published
Apr 20, 2022

Two years after his last show, Alexander Wang is back in Chinatown, LA with a runway show titled “Fortune City” that presented the designer’s pre-fall and fall 2022 collections.  

Inspired by the Chinese community, hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a dramatic rise in hate crimes against Asians, Wang returned to his Chinese roots and chose the heart of Chinatown to open a night market for the public, with local restaurants serving dim sum, dragon’s beard candies and shaved ice.
 
Welcomed by a towering statue of Bruce Lee, a monument of Chinatown’s Central Plaza, guests such as TikTok star Noah Beck and models Behati Prinsloo Levine and Kimora Lee Simmons were offered open giant fortune cookies before joining the show. A dive into the beauty of Chinatown, fully immersed in the red light with a stage surrounded by two lions, and neon lights from Chinese gift shops and a Chinatown hamburger sign, a wink to the Chinese-American Wang’s mixed culture.

On stage, Wang assembled around 50 silhouettes, starting with looks in leather, from shorts to long gloves, capes, belts with the W logo, large coats and oversized jackets, all combined with extra long corset boots. And a pregnant model was wearing the maternity outfit – a micro mini skirt and bra - worn by Rihanna one month ago. To both hip-hop and Chinese classical music, Wang showcased series of “male” suits with wide armholes, more leather pants combined with mini bras or cropped turtlenecks, party dresses, sexy frilly tops and a sportswear jacket.

Taking traditional codes of outerwear and playing with form and structure, the collection also developed a new heavy wool fabrication with stretch. Oversized wool coats were reimagined into body skimming power pieces that stand alone as everyday dressing essentials. Smocked lycra made an introduction, contrasted with denim and leather jackets, thigh-high boots and oversized bags. Cut-out lycra silhouettes were shown in ivory, black and prism pink, with ruffle detailing adding an element of romanticism to a classically sport fabrication. 

If the first part of the show was somewhat expected, the end offered a vibrant turn with a series of breathtaking glitter boots paired with denim jackets, sporty tracksuits and floaty white nightgowns, all set to a slow-tempo remix of Corona's The Rhythm of the Night.

After Alexander Wang’s appearance, the show ended in an explosion of red party favors. And to the soundtrack of Black Box's “Everybody Everybody”, the New York designer must have breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the label's security fears, no Femen members jumped on stage, nor were any protest signs brandished in the crowd. The sexual misconduct allegations made against the designer in 2020 appeared to belong to the past on Tuesday night. It marked Wang's first show since the accusations and his subsequent quiet withdrawal from public life, making a pledge at the time to "do better".
 
The Alexander Wang brand celebrates its 18th anniversary this year. Launched in 2005, the brand showed in New York for several years. After Wang himself had spent three years at Balenciaga as the creative director, between 2012 and 2015, he decided in 2018 to opt out of the New York Fashion Week official calendar, preferring to settle on the pre-collections calendar. 
 
Last December, Wang revived his brand with a holiday campaign featuring actress Lucy Liu.