Good/terrible news for the followers of fashion among you as WWD has confirmed that taste-making purveyor of downtown NYC sexy It Girl vibes, Alexander Wang, will be named the new creative director of Balenciaga next week following on from Nicolas Ghesquiere’s departure, quelling rumours of Christopher Kane’s ascendence to the role.
The Wang rumours were confirmed by the trade publication’s “market sources,” which perhaps gives a good indication of the thinking behind Wang’s reported appointment. Acclaimed Parsons graduate Wang is a commercial market designer of the most successful kind, lauded as much for the creation of a lifestyle around his label as he his for runway bows, his accessories and his designs, which, with their luxurious techno-gothic sportswear-come-streetwear aesthetic, differ greatly from the innovative couture flourishes of the Spanish-Parisian house under Ghesquiere – the two being veritable polar opposites.
Wang, pictured above with muse Vanessa Traina, is hugely popular with the Asian market and the impressionable young women market, which puts him and luxury conglomerate PPR in good stead to shill racks on racks on racks of more accessible wares than those of his couturier predecessors. At this point, literally thousands of people are jumping out of their crocodile skins or misguidedly shitting themselves at the thought of Wang’s designation as designer at large and what it could mean for the house (‘mainstreaming, ugh!’).
We’ll keep you updated when the two parties that actually factor into this fashion equation make their voices heard.
One thing’s for sure, the boy can draw a ‘cool’ crowd with a killer show.
Photo by Dimitrious Kambouris via Getty
