#WangSecret: I Was There and I Survived
If you haven't heard from the fashion wires or main stream news, something major happened this weekend, and I got to be a part of it. Alexander Wang gave out
FREE CLOTHES!
No joke, seriously he did and I took home a bag full. My friends and I heard he had an event open to the public (by that it means those who follow him on twitter and really the only people who do are in the fashion atmosphere) but we had no clue until we walked into the room of clothes. Seriously from the time we got the notice on July 9th till 5 minutes of walking into the Highland Stages we were guessing everything from a sample sale to a musical event. Boy were we surprised when we were given full liberty to grab anything and everything we could carry.
Originally I wasn't going to go since I am still working on my new apartment, but when my friend David invited me to the All Star Game Fanfest that was being held at the Jacob Javits Center which conveniently was also on the west side of Manhattan, I said why not. We kinda thought it was a sample sale and even though I didn't have the extra mooula to spend I figured this would be a once in a blue moon event.
....THANK THE HEAVENS I WENT....
When we were making plans to head to this event we thought oh 12 should be sufficient to get there but we decided lining up at 9:30 would be a better time to be there, JUST IN CASE. When we did actually get there there was already a line. I was #21 in line. Luckily we did because in the end they only allowed about 75 people in and those spots quickly filled up after we arrived.
If you spy really closely and see the guy down the street alone all in black with shorts, that would be Mr. Alexander Wang himself.
While we were in line people including us were trying to guess what was happening, me I thought it would be a concert type event. Especially since we had to sign a video release form and cover up any logos we had on. I actually had a Yankee tee on since I was hitting up the All-Star Fanfest later, (they gave me a Wang Tee to cover it up) While in line we were being photographed and video'd, stumping us even more on what the heck was going on.
When it came time to go in they led us into a room for a short video of Alexander Wang letting us know he was gonna give us free reign to go into a room and take home everything we could carry of his collection for free. Within 5 mins of the video, with major anxiety filling the room, they opened up the doors to a room filled with racks and racks of T by Alexander Wang clothes.
Unfortunately because of the sudden rush into the room, there were casualties, Tessa was knocked down and trampled skinning her knees. She is alright though, you may have seen her bruised knees that she tweeted and now is the famous one of the event for. Luckily for me I was built solid and I managed to stay on my feet and get in fast. Nothing I have ever done...wait I took the NYPD physical exam (kinda helped)...ever could prepare me for this, mentally or physically. The PTSD of this will be me happy with the new pieces I've got sitting in its own section of my closet (yes its big enough for sections.)
I managed to snap the aftermath. Empty hangers, racks, shards of ripped boxes and shredded paper left in the room.
In the mist of the Hunger Games like of grabbing clothes off the racks, I managed to grab 5 tees - 3 womenswear, 3 menswear, 3 dresses (1 given to me other by a trade), 1 pair of pants, 1 bustier (given to me by Tessa) , 3 sweaters - all menswear, 1 tank , and 1 cardigan - menswear. The pair of pants are my favorite grab since I punched through a huge box for it.
But the crazy thing was there was an upper balcony where Alexander Wang and family including his 3 year old niece was watching the whole animalistic tear through. I cannot imagine the thoughts going through their head. I was thinking how beastly the whole crowd was tearing clothes of hangers similarly to how a pack of wild hyenas tear through an antelope. But this whole event was staged stunt for video, cameras everywhere, perhaps Wang will use it as a backdrop in a commercial, or a future fashion show? If Alexander ever reads this, I want to thank him for his generosity what ever it was for.
After my friends and I gathered our new gifts we headed out the door floating on air not believing what just happened. Carrying our piles we walked down with our new buddy Michael to the Standard Hotel to de-traumatize.
Michael on top of his pile...lucky for him and his long arms he managed to grab the most in our group.
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