Alexander Wang Fall 2018 - Runway Review

Alexander Wang sure has a way with irony. So it was with a nod and a wink that the young ingenue unveiled his fall collection at, of all places, the former bastion of high fashion and some much-publicized-about excess: Four Times Square (aka the old HQ of Conde Nast).

Wang got his start there, interning at Teen Vogue and Vogue, so it was perhaps a bittersweet moment for the designer, who, as fashion's ultimate disruptor, will show to his own beat starting next season (June and December). But back to the show: his AWG -- Alexander Wang Gang -- was all present and accounted for: Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber sporting Matrix-like sunglasses, second-skin dresses and don't-mess-with-me heels as they strutted through the cubicles of the 21st floor under flickering fluorescent lights.

As for the collection, it was undeniably his strongest in quite some time. Dressed as power b***hes in tailored jackets, sheer black stockings and pumps that crossed "The Matrix" with vintage Chanel, it was modern to a fault. Stand-outs included a black blazer dress with zippers around the waist, a shiny leather jacket with anatomical seams and a pink fitted jacket worn over black leather track pants. Symbols of 20th-century corporate life were ripe for the picking everywhere you looked; the nods to Nineties nylon Prada backpacks; giant plastic hair clips and, the ultimate symbol of yesteryear excess: a platinum card. Remember expense accounts?