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Last night, Alexander Wang and H&M held a private launch event to celebrate their collaboration. The event ran at the same time as the Racked Awards, so in lieu of a Racked staffer we sent self-proclaimed Professional Millenial (and Curbed social media editor) Katie Wisniewski. This is her account of the night.
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As we strolled into the Alexander Wang x H&M party last night, the "fashion" DJ put on "Creep" by TLC and it became clear that the theme of this entire event was Tumblr circa 2012. Every guest looked like a dementor, someone cosplaying The Matrix, or a cyberpunk who was still enrolled in NYU.
Upon arriving we decided to play a drinking game. We established a few ground rules, childishly simple, including taking a drink every time someone wasn't wearing black. We stayed reasonably sober throughout the night.
The show, which was like a Jay-Z concert combined with a rich kid's bat mitzvah, had everything. In this case, everything means break dancers that fall out of the sky and land on trampolines, the constant background noise of someone yelling BANGERS, foam boxing gloves, an actual performance by Missy Elliott, hot dogs and, most importantly, the inherent satisfaction of watching models eat hot dogs. The clothes, styled to resemble the villain in The Karate Kid, distilled all the hallmarks of early '90s boxing and scuba wear—black mesh, neoprene, zippers, spandex—into, well, something that is sold at H&M. Everyone, revealing themselves to be hoarders with clothes stacked above their eyeballs, acted like it was the polar vortex and they might never again see clothes again. The items du jour were the WANG branded crop tops ($40), the grossly oversize parka ($299), and, if you could convince yourself they doubled as winter mittens, black leather boxing gloves ($60).
We heard someone say after the show, "Well, that made me wanna fight a bitch." Typical runway feedback.
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A 3,000-word think piece on this look is coming soon.
LoadingAlexander Wang X H&M defilesinde, Dakota Fanning ile karşılaştık. #alexanderwangxhm @hm @hmturkiye @alexanderwangny
Dakota Fanning is aggressively unsure.
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Solange looked good, although slightly lobotomized.
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Here's when Alexander Wang put parkour into the show.
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Imagine if he was running to your arms.
LoadingPopcornitkin pukeutuivat tyylikkäästi. #menaiset #newyork #alexanderwangxhm
The popcorn game was dismal, but let's not dwell on it.
LoadingIndustrial style #ALEXANDERWANGxHM pop-up continues to be ravaged by the beautiful people.
Literally a few moments before the apocalypse.
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This is how you do it. Alternatively titled, an episode of Hoarders.
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What does the matte "black whistle ring" connect to? A ponytail? A towel?
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Missy Elliott made this noise and it was a big deal.
And finally, a love letter to the show in the form of three leftover gin-and-tonics and piece of weave found on the ground.
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