Alexander Wang's cool-girl cred has already earned him a coveted spot among fashion's elite. But Wang is always pushing for something new, and the moto jacket and skinny jean have become more cliche than cutting-edge. Spring is the season of rebirth, after all, and Wang took that interpretation literally, citing "optimism" and "purity" as inspirations - this coming from the former engineer of rugged, grungy chic. Consequently, the collection featured not a hint of black, blue denim, or leather - Wang's usual mainstays. Au contraire, the presentation stuck to one color, or rather the absence thereof. The whole exhibition looked like it had been whitewashed, models included. Ironically, the first few looks - a series of glorified bedsheets - were anything but optimistic. Fortunately, Wang began playing with textures, volumes, and fabrics to create more diverse - if not more colorful - creations. Cropped canvas jackets, silk harem pants, and button-up skirts with industrial accents embodied the effortlessness of previous seasons. In this case, the all-white palette united complex layering into cohesive ensembles. Of particular interest was a cropped, fuzzy sweater with a turned-down collar that promised to be both sublimely chic and irresistibly comfortable. Wang took another step in the right direction with bias-cut silk smocks in pale pastels. If that sounds too ladlylike, consider that Wang left them slightly crinkled and adorned them with metallic strips meant to simulate duct tape. A gorgeously eclectic floral dress topped with a futuristic, transparent anorak was another interesting juxtaposition. The closing numbers, however, were somewhat anticlimatic. Oversized trenches looked too much like bathrobes to even qualify as coats. Worse yet was their horrific color, which was somewhere between mustard yellow and burnt sienna. Though the end wasn't quite the grand finale (and the beginning wasn't promising, either), let's not forget the gleams of ingenuity that shone in between.

all photos from nymag.com