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For all of Alexander Wang’s louche downtown appeal, this season saw the young designer show a sophisticated, super-luxe and covetable collection focusing on structured utilitarian leather, suede and wool outerwear. There was a slick sheen to the finish, adding a ‘gloss’ to the clean, stiff lines. ‘Shrink wrap’ knits, gold military details, ribbed leather and wet-look lacquered tweed followed, all in a sumptuous palette of black, white and oxblood. Complex textures were integral to this grown-up collection, with some outrageously sexy fish-net turtlenecks, and a riot girl soundtrack adding Wang’s quintessential ‘street edge’. As if to re-affirm his status as New York’s king of cool, some of the industry’s top models (and friends); Gisele, Natasha, Joan, Shalom, Karolina and Elise Crombez among others, took to the mirrored catwalk in Matrix-esque leather coats and angular suiting so sharp, they looked like the definition of ‘dangerous’.
Text: Caroline Newell
Photography: Mitchell Sams
Click here to see our AW12 Womenswear coverage in full.
