Five (more) minutes with Alexander Wang

… on his recent CFDA win The funny thing is, everyone in my office was emailing and texting me after the win. I thought, how did they find out already? They were on WWD’s Twitter! People in my office told my brother. My brother told my mom [in Shanghai]. My mom called me. Word got around very quickly, even before I got out. But I had learned my lesson from the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards—I turned off my phone. Because that time, I forgot to turn it off and it rang while Charlize Theron was presenting an award.

… on the early years I had appointments in my apartment. I’d be putting things on my bed to show the buyers. I remember telling my mom I could put a curtain in the middle so one side could be my showroom and the other side, my living space.

… on the Nineties Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford would always talk about how they’re Seventies kids. And now, I’m thinking about how I’m really a Nineties kid. My ideas come from things that I didn’t notice were trends at the time, like seeing my sister wear Via Spiga and watching Saved by the Bell.

… on Marc Jacobs I never really got to talk to Marc when I was interning [for him]. I’d, like, close my eyes when I walked past the design room. But he’s someone whose career I really watched. The thing about his collections is that there’s always this very identifiable statement each season, but you can go in the store and actually wear [the clothes]. That’s the feeling I like, to get inspired by something and then actually have it applicable to my life. ____

… on his accessories’ names The shoes are named after models — Lara, Hanne, Racquel — but the bags are named after TV show characters. We have the Brenda and Kelly [90210], the Dorothy shopper [The Golden Girls] and the Trudy [Miami Vice]. They’re all the shows that used to be on TV when I was growing up.

… on his wardrobe as a child My mom would put me in these preppy little suits and slick my hair to the side. I have these baby pictures of me where I’m this little preppy kid with a sweater tied around my neck.

… on his own closet now It’s, like, a white t-shirt drawer, black jean drawer and sweatshirt drawer. And I have a couple of blazers and dress shirts for when I have to go to black-tie events.

… on his first fashion credit In high school, I made a little denim skirt for [classmate] Victoria Traina and she was photographed by W in it. Because her dad has that cowboy party in Napa that you guys always cover. It was my first piece of press!

… on what his fragrance would smell like I have no idea. Sweat?

Read Venessa Lau’s feature on Alexander Wang HERE.

Photo: Scott Rudd