Alexander Wang Is Profiled by The New York Times Before His Paris Fashion Week Show

Find out what's on the designer's mind.

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Alexander Wang's appointment as creative director of Balenciaga was one of fashion's closely-followed stories of the past year. Tomorrow, the designer will show his inaugural collection at Paris Fashion Week. Do you think this would worry the 29-year-old designer? Not a chance.

“I’m extremely excited. I am high on life. It’s a dream come true,” Wang tells The New York Times.

Still, the original idea of running his eponymous brand while being at the helm of the Paris fashion house overwhelmed Wang. “My first reaction was: ‘I am so occupied, I give 110 percent to my brand.’ Then I thought of elevating my team and being given a chance to do all those things I had at the back of my mind. I am doing something quite different from what I do here,” Wang remembers.

Novelist Danielle Steele remembers Wang as a 14-year-old design prodigy who went to school with three of her children. “He would get into mischief cutting up clothes and jeans to change the look, while I had a fit over what they were doing. He even made some clothes for them. His talent was evident at an early age,” Steele recalls.

Even though folks rally around the legend that Wang comes from a long-line of Chinese garment designers, this story is untrue. “It’s a false background. My family had no experience in garment production and there was no master plan to quit school in my second year,” Wang states.

So, why was Wang chosen to head Balenciaga? “We had a lot of discussion within the house — and we quite quickly came to the decision that we wanted Balenciaga to be approachable, with a certain youthful sportiness,” says François-Henri Pinault, a partner in the PPR firm.

Wang even received high praise from the Vogue EIC herself, Anna Wintour. “He has so much charm and enthusiasm. He’s not moody and broody and his company is very successful. He is a good guy and fashion is lucky to have him,” Wintour says.

However, with all the fashion media zoomed in on Wang's every move, he still likes to remain a private person. “The great thing about that is that there is a whole, unknown side of yourself. I know about me — but I save myself for my friends,” Wang concludes. Check the full feature over at The New York Times.

[via The New York Times]

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