“It’s Going to Be an Alpha-Female Show”—Alexander Wang on His 20th Anniversary Comeback

So that is the powerful inspiration for the collection. What can you tell me about how the collection looks?

Not everything’s locked yet, so things could change, but it’s a collection that’s extremely focused. It feels the most disciplined in terms of what I want to say, and it very much points to where we’re going. There’s a stealthiness to it. It’s very sharp. We like to say we’re giving femininity its sharp edges.

The venue, in Chinatown, is very meaningful. I know much of the story is under wraps, for now, but what can you tell me about it?

I’ll start by saying the official opening and an announcement of what we’re going to be doing with the space will happen in early 2026. Again, I give credit to my mom for this: It has been in the works for a very long time in terms of her vision, and then when the opportunity came by… Ever since COVID, I’ve been actively looking at how I can support Chinatowns across the States, from LA to San Francisco to New York. We’ve been looking at a lot of different opportunities, and then this building came into the conversation. It was previously owned by HSBC, and it’s a landmark building that has been around for 101 years, and this will be the first time that it will be owned by Chinese Americans, which I’m very proud of. It’s a family investment, and it will signal how much we are committed to New York and, more importantly, to Chinatown. It will be about bridging cultures—about bringing activity and interest and people together in really new and exciting ways.

It has taken a long time to sort out and schedule, so we only had enough time to do a little bit of work on it. There’s something very symbolic about the space which I love, which is that it’s across the street from a bridge, that being the Manhattan Bridge.

So, in the spirit of looking back, and looking forward, what would the Alex of now say to the Alex of then?

When you’re first starting out, you’re always like, Okay—as soon as I can get more help and more resources and blah, blah, blah, it’s going to get easier. Except it doesn’t get easier! [laughs] When you’re a founder of a brand and you are so blessed to have this thing that you love to do and you’re so passionate about it, you think about every detail and every aspect. I think being scrappy and being nimble—and being curious—is something that I hold very, very dear, because that’s what got me through in the beginning. I didn’t have a mentor, I didn’t have anyone I could turn to in fashion, so I thought We’re just going to do this and hope for the best, and figure it out through trial and error. That’s still very much what has carried us forward to today. As the world is dramatically changing, as we’re constantly learning new technology, new tools, I think being able to be really flexible and embrace that change is very important—and it is the only constant. So I think that’s what I would tell my younger self: Embrace it—embrace it all.