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Alexander Wang: Actively Sporty

The best show we’ve seen in quite some time by a young American designer was surely that of Alexander Wang, whose sporty runway moment on Saturday, Sept. 12, in Manhattan was very much a mega triumph.

Staged on a Hudson River pier, this collection was dedicated to combining athletic actively with nighttime cool. From linebacker shoulders on gray, corset sweatshirt tops, or perforated rugby stripe looks morphed into tunics and hunting raincoats composed as capes this was all about reinventing athletic codes into cool, contemporary fashion.

“I dream more about sport than actually really do it. So this is my sport fantasy,” the exuberant Wang told FWD backstage.

But what was best about this collection was the way Wang let sports filter through his imagination and come out in fresh, new ways – like a gym-rats bra that emerged in the runway as padded shouldered fantasy top, or fencing look that was a platform for a sizzling cocktail.

Wang also attracts just the tight mix of fashion aristocracy, hipster interest and retailing heavies – Anna Wintour, Olympia Scary, Terry Richardson and a large regiment, or two, of buyers.

There was the odd proper absurdity – how many women will actually wear his knee socks meets soccer shin-guard? But a soupcon of silliness is often an essential ingredient in any really great show, which is what this was.

Made in a soft palette of dove gray, washed out putty, light cement and faded strawberry and composed in quirkily finished materials, the whole thing screamed new, i.e., exactly the opposite to the sophisticatedly formality which has dominated the first two days of this New York spring 2010 season.

Still in his mid twenties, Wang is one of those uncanny specimens who explode into fashion with a mysterious assurance. He’s about a million miles form the agony aunts and angst ridden youths who can be seen taking their bows on the Continent. He smiles incessantly.

Indeed, it’s a mark of what a fresh and innovative talent Wang is that he inspires the people around him to do their best work; from the infinity lit backdrop by Thierry Dreyfus to the smartly paired-back styling by Karl Templar or the flawless casting by Anita Bitton this was a great example of teamwork. Then again, considering the biggest inspiration was team sports, that sort of makes sense.

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