Leading American fashion designer Alexander Wang was born in 1984 in San Francisco to Taiwanese-American parents, moving from California to New York at the age of eighteen to study at the prestigious Parsons School of Design. Whilst at Parsons, he interned for Derek Lam, Vogue, Teen Vogue and Marc Jacobs, and then dropped out in his final year to launch his first fashion line, a selection of unisex cashmere sweaters.
Wang’s journey from Parsons fashion student to fully fledged designer was predictably rapid. Following his first line of sweaters, in 2007 he premièred his first full women’s collection, and in 2008, he diversified into accessories as well as winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award and the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation award. 2009 saw him named as the Swarovski Womenswear Designer of the Year by the CFDA, and in 2011 he was awarded the GQ Best New Menswear Designer award.
Alexander Wang’s place as a global designer of significance was recently cemented when he was unveiled as the Nicolas Ghesquiere’s successor as Creative Director at Balenciaga, the leading French fashion house. Alexander Wang designs can be found worldwide in over 700 boutiques and department stores, including Barneys New York, Dover Street Market, Browns and Bergdorf Goodman. Wang’s most recent venture is with H&M, where he will be releasing a new collection for both men and women in late 2014.
Alexander Wang is primarily know for the M.O.D, or model off-duty look, an idea that came to him whilst backstage at fashion shows, and expresses the tension between high and low fashion, the clash of the simple everyday with the fantasy fashion of the catwalk, resulting in an egalitarian look of dishevelled glamour.
Despite his young age, Wang has annual sales of over $60 million, a testament to his talent.
Website: www.alexanderwang.com
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