Alexander Wang Spring 2012

Anyone operating in fashion knows that by itself, it is very divisive. "Good" and "bad" are always relative, and at the end of the day, everything boils down to a matter of personal taste, really. To be divisive in an already divisive field? Well. That's where things get really tricky. Enter designer Alexander Wang. His modus operandi has always been sportswear-as-actual-clothes. And while he's always been embraced by the hipster crowd and consumers simultaneously, critics haven't always been quick to sing his praises. (Who can forget Cathy Horyn's scathing review of his Spring 2011 collection?) But while i've always admitted that he at least gets accessories right, i've never thought his clothes were particularly stunning. Which brings me to his new collection for Spring 2012...
Continuing his athletic trend, this time around he references BMX and NASCAR, albeit all too literally. To be completely honest, beyond accessories, I really didn't see much in this collection that I actually liked. I wanted to like it, too, but after three views... Sure, there were a few cool pieces, but as is usual with Wang, the styling detracted from that. Maybe I need to see some of these pieces hung in a store. Speaking of which, he's opening a new flagship store in Beijing early next year, with seven more slated for Asia and Europe before year's end. More power to him.