Alexander Wang has opened a new store at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas. At an appointment at his showroom in the South Street Seaport (also new), he reported that the store reached its monthly goal on the first day of business. Maybe that’s because the pre-fall collection on the racks is so well suited to Vegas’s oasis-in-the-desert milieu—not because it’s skin baring and sexy—all Wang collections are these days—but because of its mood.
“She’s kind of a postapocalyptic showgirl,” Wang said. “I was inspired by this idea of Mad Max going through downtown Vegas. We were thinking of motorcycles and other vehicles covered in exhaust.” The denim and leather look sun bleached and desert weathered—Wang called it “pre-aged”—while the padded shoulders on zip-front jackets evoke the late Tina Turner, star of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and the primal decadence of her Aunty Entity chain mail. Hotfix-crystal camisoles and cocktail dresses add a bit of Vegas-strip glitz, and for a showgirl’s off-hours, there are track pants and athletic shorts with a liquid sheen.
The fall collection pictured here also revs at idle with its emphasis on motocross leathers, heavy-duty black jeans, faux-fur jackets, and hip-high cuissards. His recently introduced Ricco bag, with its “trap” (trapezoidal) stud detailing, has multiplied, with many new iterations in different materials and shapes, including one that looks a lot like a football, a callback to his sporty spring 2010 collection.
Wang knows Vegas from childhood trips. “I always used to go there with my family for Chinese New Year. It was a big Chinese New Year destination.” So what did he make of Furiosa? “Oh, I’m always a fan of the original.” If and when George Miller does make another Mad Max movie, he could give the designer a ring.
