Alexander Wang.

KATIE

Like Jax, I was beyond frustrated last night about the shots from A. Wang taking far too long to upload and the fact the (supposedly) live feed wouldn't play for me until at all on style.com. Not only was I disappointed with technology, I hate to say this, but I was initially very disappointed in the Spring collection as a whole. This is an important issue, because while Alexander totally sparked the fire for the trend of velvet, his Autumn collection was kind of a disappointment, not holding nearly as much weight as his sporty Spring 2010 collection or his biker-esque Spring 2009 collection did in my heart and in the fashion world. Generally, Wang's collections have been filled with hugely popular pieces that set trends as they are marched down the runway on impeccably styled models.

I think I speak for both Jax and myself when I say that we are slowly losing faith in Alexander Wang.

Least favorite looks.

Maybe it's the fact that this Fall we are in the midst of richly themed colors and trends, but Wang's Spring 2011 collection just felt wrong. Outdated in some ways and just plain boring in others, everything from the color to the cut of the clothes just lacked a presence that one expects to see in Alexander Wang clothing. Even the shoes were kind of dull compared to his big hits of the past.

Alexander Wang shoes backstage.

That said, maybe I should give Mr. Wang some credit for what is possibly to come. His goal was to break away from something he'd been consistent with (the color black) and trends that have been marching down the runway for years now, which seems wise considering style.com's rhetorical question on the matter: "If everyone does a skinny jean and motorcycle jacket, it isn't new anymore, is it?" In those aspects, Alexander was right on mark, sticking only with colors that may have been a bit out of his comfort zone, and designing pants, dresses, and coats with a more lanky, loose fit - something that's been seen on a lot of other runways for Spring already. So maybe I'm wrong, maybe Wang is right on the mark and come April, all I'll want to be wearing is a terra cotta colored construction-worker-esque ensemble. Yeah, probably so. But for now, I'm once again not blown away by much of anything in this collection other than the bags and the rose gold duct tape. Spring can be a difficult design time for designers, so I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that in February, Wang's Fall collection is above and beyond anything I've seen the during the past two seasons.

Favorite looks.

-Katie

PS to style.com,

Maybe it's a flaw on the Alexander Wang show alone, but if you don't let me use pictures from your website anymore, I swear I will happily move on to New York Magazine or Fashionologie. Better yet, I will move on to your newest competitor, Vogue. I guarantee that many of your viewers will do the same.


(Images from Fashionologie, nymag.com, and Twitter)