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He might have the date of a lifetime coming up in Paris in three weeks time, but the madness that’s about to hit Alexander Wang when he shows his first collection for Balenciaga didn’t mean he was about to put his eponymous label second in line. The theme from Rocky made for an epic start to a show, which set an early high standard for the AW13 show season. Based almost exclusively on softness – from Wang’s wealth of fluffy materials to his soft shoulders and roomy shapes – the collection was an antidote to the rigidly sculptural aesthetic that’s currently running through the veins of women’s fashion, and, in turn, an exciting foreshadowing of the element of unexpectedness, which Wang is going to bring to Balenciaga. And although blizzard references in New York show reports are fast becoming old, the knitted hoods, which appeared throughout the show covering the models’ heads almost entirely, certainly served as a fitting comment in the wake of stormy Nemo.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
Film: Kloss London
