Surprise! Alexander Wang has collaborated with Adidas on a unisex collection featuring tops, bottoms and sneakers—a personal obsession of Wang’s. The designer is always full of surprises, and at the end of his spring runway presentation, the lights flickered to a grainy, dark film of white trucks barreling down city streets and then hooded men loading up boxes and a quick flash of a non-disclosure agreement. And then out came a parade—no, a barrage—of male and female models clad in black shirts, sweats, track jackets, shorts and sneakers, the Adidas logo turned upside down. No fanfare or long lead-up necessary. Just give people what they want, now. Those trucks will be parked at three locations around New York City the day after the show, selling the Adidas collection.

Rewinding 60 or so looks, the signature collection Wang showed celebrated the ’80s surf and scantily-clad beach culture. Just wrapped in Wang-y street edge. White cropped cotton tops, loose tanks and thin, tiny tops with long straps that criss-crossed the waist before disappearing into flared skirts looked breezy, young and right up the alley of millennials. Wang knows what they want, and he crafted a canny collection and of-the-moment campaign to go with it.

He spun gray men’s wear suiting into deconstructed jackets, wrap dresses, pj shorts and board shorts, and then trimmed them with black lace. At once, it was feminine and masculine. The ultimate tomboy with a streak of girlishness peeking through with rose-print lining and flouncy blouses. For evening, this tomboy throws on a sleek racer-like sequined dress or, even better, a long, white sequined wrap skirt.

For a lot of people, the ’80s were a time of bad clothes, yet Wang managed to take one of the most-maligned looks and make them cool, desirable and appropriate for 2017. Namely, the distressed and washed matching denim jacket and jeans in white or faded blue.

Board shorts, scuba dresses, sandals and moccasin sneakers drove home the idea of beach babes and surfer dudes. And a series of electric pink, blue and yellow sweatshirts, emblazoned with palm trees at sunset and the words “Mind Detergent” instantly recalled Ocean Pacific graphics of yore.

From: Harper’s BAZAAR US