Alexander Wang (designer)
Encyclopedia
Alexander Wang is a Taiwanese-American fashion designer.
At age 18, he moved to New York to attend Parsons The New School for Design
to study fashion design. After dropping out in his sophomore year, he launched his first women's ready-to-wear collection in 2007. The label embodies casually cool downtown style, drawing inspiration from the nineties, French chic, and rock grunge—always finished off with a slouchy, rolled-out-of-bed edge. Wang launched a diffusion line of pre-weathered cotton tees, tanks, and T-shirt dresses in spring 2009, T by Alexander Wang, as well as a footwear collection of towering platform sandals. He won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2008, an honor accompanied by a $200,000 award to expand one's business.His lines are now stocked globally by more than 30 of the world’s premiere retailers including Barneys NYC, Neiman Marcus
, Bergdorf Goodman
, Dover Street Market
, Browns
, Otte
and Selfridges
.
His parents are immigrants from Taiwan
. Alexander Wang attended Drew School and the Stevenson School in California for high school. He also attended The Harker School
.
in Women's Wear and won a USD$200,000 prize as the CDFA/Vogue (magazine)
Fashion Fund Award winner. He was featured in the November 2010 issue of Vogue in remembrance of winning the award in 2008, in an article entitled "The Aluminati".
Wang is known for his edgy, somewhat masculine womenswear designs. After designing a Fall 2008 collection using black as the predominant color, he designed his Spring 2009 collection using bright colors such as orange, dusty purple, aqua and hot pink, and proclaimed, "They wanted color, they got color!". Although he reverted to using mainly black fabrics, he was praised for showing great tailoring skills.
At age 18, he moved to New York to attend Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
to study fashion design. After dropping out in his sophomore year, he launched his first women's ready-to-wear collection in 2007. The label embodies casually cool downtown style, drawing inspiration from the nineties, French chic, and rock grunge—always finished off with a slouchy, rolled-out-of-bed edge. Wang launched a diffusion line of pre-weathered cotton tees, tanks, and T-shirt dresses in spring 2009, T by Alexander Wang, as well as a footwear collection of towering platform sandals. He won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2008, an honor accompanied by a $200,000 award to expand one's business.His lines are now stocked globally by more than 30 of the world’s premiere retailers including Barneys NYC, Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
, Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman is a luxury goods department store based on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The company was founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf and was later owned and managed by Edwin Goodman, and later his son Andrew Goodman....
, Dover Street Market
Dover Street Market
Dover Street Market is a multilevel fashion retail store created by Rei Kawakubo of Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons. It is located in Dover Street Mayfair, London.Dover Street Market Tokyo opened in 2006 and is a smaller version of the London store....
, Browns
Browns (fashion boutique)
Browns is an independent fashion boutique in London, United Kingdom. It was founded by Joan Burstein and husband Sidney in 1970. The flagship store on London's South Molton Street is famous for its long window displays, which once featured John Galliano's graduate collection.-History:Joan Burstein...
, Otte
Otte
Otte is a surname, and may refer to:* Carl Otte, American politician* Eileen Otte, Eileen Ford, cofounder of the Ford modeling agency.* Hans Otte, German composer, pianist, and poet....
and Selfridges
Selfridges
Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...
.
Early life
Alexander Wang went to summer design programs at OTIS. During his late teens, he lived in San Francisco.His parents are immigrants from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Alexander Wang attended Drew School and the Stevenson School in California for high school. He also attended The Harker School
The Harker School
The Harker School is a private, co-educational, non-profit college preparatory school in San Jose, California, United States. Founded in 1893 as Manzanita Hall by Frank Cramer, Harker now has three campuses: Bucknall, Blackford, and Saratoga, named for the streets on which they lie. Bucknall is...
.
Career
Wang launched his first full collection of women's wear in 2007. He was nominated for a 2008 Council of Fashion Designers of AmericaCouncil of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. is a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers. As of 2009, Diane von Fürstenberg is the group's President and Steven Kolb is the Executive Director...
in Women's Wear and won a USD$200,000 prize as the CDFA/Vogue (magazine)
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
Fashion Fund Award winner. He was featured in the November 2010 issue of Vogue in remembrance of winning the award in 2008, in an article entitled "The Aluminati".
Wang is known for his edgy, somewhat masculine womenswear designs. After designing a Fall 2008 collection using black as the predominant color, he designed his Spring 2009 collection using bright colors such as orange, dusty purple, aqua and hot pink, and proclaimed, "They wanted color, they got color!". Although he reverted to using mainly black fabrics, he was praised for showing great tailoring skills.