We Need To Talk About Alex

Balenciaga Fall 2013. Click on the image to see the full collection.

Was Alexander Wang's rise to Balenciaga everything we expected? 

It's safe to say Balenciaga was the most hyped show of Paris Fashion Week (and probably of the whole fashion month). It all started when creative director Nicholas Ghesquière announced his resignation from the house in November last year, a move rightly described by British VOGUE Editor in Chief Alexandra Shulman as "depressing."
At this point, the fashion world has gotten a little too used to designers paying musical chairs, the moves at YSL and Dior fueling Hummer tanks worth of gossip for the past three seasons. Now the question on everyone's lips was: who will replace Ghesquière?

Alexander Wang. Click on image to see his entry in VOGUEPEDIA.

For a while there was a rumour that Christopher Kane would take over - music to my ears. The genius designer is never short of brilliant ideas and would be the perfect candidate to take the Balenciaga brand to the next level. My excitement was almost overwhelming.
And then came the shock announcement: Alexander Wang is the new creative director of Balenciaga. What an anti-climax. Not that there's anything wrong with Wang - his eponymous collection was a Spring 2013 highlight in New York - but he's nowhere near as good as Christopher Kane.
Time healed my resentment, and his Fall 2013 show in New York fueled my excitement. Although Ghesquière was at the top of his game when he left, maybe Wang would be able to inject something new and exciting into the brand - something it never even knew it needed.


On Thursday 28 February at 10:00 in an intimate studio in Paris, the curious fashion minds were finally given the answers they were looking for. But the reactions were decidedly flat. Again, it's not that the show was bad. It was solid. Very Balenciaga. (Wang spent a large amount of time in the archives, so this is to be expected.) But there was no punch. No stand-up-and-applaude-with-a-tear-in-your-eye feeling.

Christopher Kane Fall 2013.
Click to see the full collection- compare at your discression.

The reviewers were very sweet about the show. "It was a thoughtful, pragmatic collection that carried the promise for an intriguing new direction for the house," writes Hamish Bowles. Katy Horyn called it an "impressive collection," saying it should silence Wang's critiques. (Yet here I am, blogging.) Jessica Bumpus gave the most encouraging comment, "It was a considered start and we could see that he understood the difference between what he does and what Balenciaga needs to be."

All's well that ends well. PPR (the fashion business giant) bought majority shares in Christopher Kane which gave his business a huge international boost, so no more sour feelings there. And there were some commendable pieces in Wang's Balenciaga debut - fantastically constructed white shirts got a smile from me.

Maybe that's my problem with the collection, that the stand-out piece was a closet staple. Considering how Raf Simons has remodeled the Dior brand in the last year, it's clear Wang is playing it safe. (Yes, I'm aware it's not fair to compare they two - Simons being more experienced and mature - but Wang is in the big league now, and should be judged as such.)

Alright, alright. So Raf Simon's first Dior collection didn't wow me either. Maybe time will be kind in this case as well. And I'm a avid follower of Hamish Bowles, so let's take his crit to heart. Alexander Wang's first collection for Balenciaga shows promise for an exciting new direction for the iconic fashion house. And I'm excited to see it.

All images: vogue.it