ALEXANDER WANG LAUNCH_

Working at H&M brings great opportunities to get involved with exciting things within the fashion world. The obvious one is getting to see clothes from the catwalk refined to become more retail friendly,  but I often get asked to help with visual tasks and outfit building. Recently however, I was asked to travel to London to work in the Regent street store, to help out with the Alexander Wang launch. I had heard about this collaboration many months before, and researched the collection. My first reaction? I wasn't overly crazy about it, it seemed very much like gym wear, almost a bit boring. But they were just photographs, seeing the real thing was a completely different feeling.

As I had already worked for the Isabel Marant launch the previous year, I sort of what to expect, however upon arriving, this already seemed like a bigger deal. More hustle and bustle, more crew, a more professional set up; we even got our hair and make up done to make us look more 'Wang'. You could tell everyone was excited, people running around like maniacs getting the store looking 110%, after all, the head of H&M in Britain was attending.

The set up for the collection was amazing- it was dark steel frames, quite bulky looking, situated in the middle of the store. It was almost like that of a dark, dingy, run down gym, sporting upper class garments. As a member of staff I obviously got to see the collection in person before most (although I didn't get a good chance to look at it at first as I was running it upstairs). When it was on the rails though I fell in love. Whoever thought me of all people would want to purchase sports wear would be deemed insane, but it was happening! Of course the collection was highly influenced by sporting wear, with a lot of figure hugging garments, and neoprene as a statement material. The collection even included boxing gloves, towels, water bottles and yoga mats, so it wasn't all 'fashion'. The colour pallet was rather monochrome, with accent colours of blue and yellow. I enjoyed the colours, it made the collection feel dark and moody, ready for action and a fight.
The press evening was crazy, the store was packed to the brim. People were grabbing anything they could, in the fear of it running out (which a lot of it did)!
Considering it was still in collaboration with H&M, I was a little skeptical about the quality of the garments, but in fact they were very well made. The material choice was wonderful, simple but effective. Actually in a way the whole collection was simple, there wasn't to much fuss on any garment, usually just the name Wang, creating a sporty feel.
All of the staff got to purchase what they wished on the press evening, a day before general sale. I was going to buy the fastest selling Wang cropped jumper, but after trying it on, it wasn't for me, I did however fall in love with the see through dress, something I had had my eye on all night. It was a very delicate knit from a heavy thread, with a white/ see through band of textured knit at the top. It was a boxy dress, and looked wonderful oversized. Best purchase.
Two days of running around took it out of me, but I am so thankful for the experience and opportunity. Roll on next year!