Alexander Wang Offers Tips for Succeeding in the Fashion Industry

"Dazed" sits down with Alexander Wang to discuss what steps he took to rise to the top.

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Complex Original

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Alexander Wang is a fashion gawd. Plain and simple.

In addition to his three-year reign as Balenciaga’s creative director, the 31-year-old American designer was also busy building his eponymous label, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. But how did this Parsons dropout do it? What steps did he take to eventually become one of the most celebrated designers in the country?

In a recent article published by Dazed, we get some insight to Wang’s rise to the top as well as a few tips he learned along the way. One of his biggest suggestions is to learn what works for you, especially when it comes to education.

“I always get really awkward or nervous when schools ask me to come and speak because everyone’s like, ‘How did you do it?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I left!’ Everyone has their own way of learning or adapting to how to achieve their goals and sometimes school plays a very big part in that,” Wang told Dazed. “For me, unfortunately, I tried it and it didn’t work out. Life organically took a different course and I think the most important thing is you have to have clarity in what you want and secondly, you have to take a risk. If you just kind of sit there and let things happen to you, then you’re just going to take the course that everyone else takes. That’s how life is.”

Wang also went on to talk about the importance of communication among his team. He doesn’t like when different departments are segregated as he thinks of each staff member as an integral part of the machine that is Alexander Wang. The design team is encouraged to sit in on the communications team's meetings; the communications team is encouraged to attend meetings for the merchandising team, because, as he puts it, “they all matter and all need to work together in order to be a success story.”

But one of the biggest pieces of advice Wang offers is to never stop striving for improvement. He says that after each collection, he’s always looking for ways the brand can get better, whether through sourcing, production, or even communication.

“You can’t ever feel like what you’re doing is the best thing and that it works and that everyone’s going to buy it,” he told Dazed. “I guess that’s something I’ve learnt. You can’t rest on your laurels.”

Pretty solid advice. To read the full article on Wang’s success story, go to Dazed’s website

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