Imagine the fashion world today without the effortlessly chic brand Alexander Wang has brought to the forefront. Where would the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna and the Kardashian family get the trendiest pieces they’re always showing off without this young designer? This year marks ten years since a then 21 year old Alexander Wang left design school at Parsons after only two years to launch his own label, named after himself. His brand began with mostly knitwear but has expanded to include a plethora of key pieces that celebrities and models are always seen wearing. His brand’s aesthetic is sporty, trendy and has coined the phrase “off-duty-model” for its luxury streetwear look. Now, more than 700 stores around the world in including Net-a-Porter, Neiman Marcus, and Barneys New York stock Alexander Wang and the now 31-year old powerhouse has an estimated net worth of $70 million.
To celebrate his brand’s ten year milestone, Wang took to his Instagram account (which boasts a following of one million!) to let his customers, admirers and fans vote for ten of 21 previous best-selling pieces to be re-released on AlexanderWang.com. The “Wang 10” capsule voting closed in July and the top ten pieces have just been released on the website and are now available for pre-order (so break out your savings everyone!) The website introduces the collection by saying “Introducing the 10 year capsule collection: 10 re-issued pieces, crowd-sourced from the past decade of runway collections”
The top ten pieces are all only available in black, the color that is normally the staple of the young designer’s collections and a favorite among fans and consumers. 2009 was a huge year for Wang and it shows as six of the ten pieces in the Wang 10 capsule are from either the spring or fall 2009 collections. Among the spring 2009 pieces are the mesh dress (with intricate graphic details), the draped jersey dress, the oversized marled crewneck, and the leather fringe sweatshirt and among the fall 2009 pieces are the moto jacket with fur fringe and the very popular bra cup dress. One of his very early pieces is also being re-released, the fall 2007 gathered jersey dress. From fall 2008 we have the stretch leather pant with a zipper in front and from 2010 we have the lace-up leather short. The latest piece to be re-released is the fall 2011 quilted sleeve mock neck sweater. These ten pieces are sure to fly off the shelves because as we’ve seen before, they already have! This capsule collection is an amazing way that Wang has let fans and customers be a part of the creative process and give the customers exactly what they want.
Wang is also giving back to the fans in another way: post one of your favorite Alexander Wang moments or pieces on twitter or instagram using #WANG10 and you have a chance to be featured on the instagram or the website! You know what that means: dig through the archives and pull out your favorite Alexander Wang sweater and you can be noticed the man himself!
