FASHION
ALEXANDER WANG
What does an Alexander Wang dude do during the summer ? This year , Wang ’ s guy is the surfing type , haunting Venice Beach in clothes designed for days and nights around the bonfire . Some of the pieces will be familiar to fans from the brand ’ s surf-core Spring 2017 womenswear show , namely the tie-dyed sweatshirts scattered with patches of buxom ’ 80s babes , but there are plenty more variations on the elevated Spicoli theme for his Spring menswear . Here , board shorts came embroidered with bikini-clad ladies , while black jackets were stitched with Girls . Reversed koi fish prints echoed the chill vibes of a Pacific coast dweller , whereas proper pullover anoraks and mixed-plaid shirts felt more suited to the North Atlantic bad-boy type . The staples of an Alexander Wang collection — beanies , stripes , leopard prints — persisted in ways new and old .
Wang is a master of isolating and riffing on subcultures . Over the years he ’ s astutely elevated the mall goth , the moto girl , the under-the-bleachers troublemaker , and so many more American tropes . His newest reworkings , while savvy and commercially viable , didn ’ t necessarily get the heart racing . They ’ re familiar . What did create excitement was a series of rugby shirts made of heavy sport-technical knits . They were preppy , athletic , subversive , all-American . At this moment I don ’ t know a single man who owns something like this or would even think to want it , but I bet in a month ’ s time they ’ ll have taken over New York City ’ s Grand Street . That ’ s genius .
12 4GUYS . CA