Oh dear me. I’ve known about this collection happening for ages, (read: April),  it feels like I’ve been waiting for the collection to drop for literally my whole entire life  (major exaggeration), because I am a shameless Alexander Wang fangirl. Shameless. One day, when I’m not a poor, unemployed student, I’ll be able to actually buy the shoes and the bags and the RTW collection… one day. 

So yes. the collection doesn’t physically become available in stores for another three-ish weeks (November 6th, if you want to stick that in your diary), But I’ve taken a look at the at the lookbook that was showcased the other day, as well as the capsule collection in full, and well. Well. I can safely say that it blew all my expectations out of the water.

In a bad way.

I was so excited. The literal definition of ‘hyped’. I was seeing clean lines and structure and shape in that way only Alexander Wang does. Simple. Wearable. Smooth touches of sports chic with a flair of classic Wang. I don’t know. Instead, we get this. Neoprene abundance with a sports luxe factor on steroids. A friend of mine compared it to the T collection, which I was never truly sold on, but it still had something that was a lot more put together than this.

Out of the 43 items in the collection, the menswear certainly gets the best end of the stick. There isn’t really much that isn’t wearable, judging from the lookbook and the catwalk – other than the neoprene trousers. The mix of leather, cotton and neoprene in the collection is something that strikes out from the ‘normcore’ of H&M’s usual collections, which is… nice. Can you tell I’m not a fan of neoprene for anything other than swimwear yet?

I’m particularly fond of the tortoise/shell print tank, and the shorts in the middle image on the 2nd row are very reminiscent of the pyrex shorts that came out last year that swept right across asia with ridiculous popularity. Incidentally, the sweater in that image is probably my favourite piece of the menswear collection. The entire line isn’t exactly ground-breaking, it’s not especially different from a lot of the lines from ready to wear designers across 2013-2014.

The womanswear, however, is what is such a disappointment to me. It’s so hit and miss, and that is something that I’ve never associated with the name Alexander Wang. There are, perhaps, three or four items that I would buy. Three or four.

I don’t really know what I was expecting, but this was not it. The two cut-out pieces are reminiscent of Wang’s SS13 collection, although I much preferred that. The circled hem of the long-line top strikes me as a little odd, as well as the mesh panels on the arm. I am not a fan of the neoprene fitted top, or the dress in the same vein. Three of the more sportswear items that were featured on the runway, I almost screamed at. (1, 2, 3)  My favourite of this collection are the two leather panelled t-shirts, one of the sweaters that isn’t pictured in the lookbook and the crossover dress. The rest are all a bit ‘meh’ in my opinion. I could, possibly be swayed by seeing the cropped jumpers and the shorts in the flesh, but we’ll see.

In general, the collection disappointed me. I think a lot of it would fare better paired with other items. As in other items not from the collection. Despite neoprene being unfriendly to style, with everything being so monochromatic, it shouldn’t be much of a hassle to style these into something more wearable.

I’ll leave you with a couple of my favourite looks from the runway, as the lookbook really doesn’t sell this collection in any sort of positive light for me.

So what do you think? Am I completely on my own in my corner of disappointment? Am I being too harsh? I’d love to hear your thoughts – what would you buy from this collection?

♥