Alexander Wang is proceeding with the integration of his aesthetic into the Balenciaga canon with respect, exactitude, and purpose. This fourth Wang-helmed menswear collection dutifully began with a reading of the founder’s cocoon coat, its seams reduced by envelope construction, its placket neutralized, and its ovoid embrace ensured by a robust wool blend. Below were the narrow, springy wool/nylon foam trousers and protectively high, rugged-soled leather boots that featured throughout the show. The aesthetic was monkishly ascetic. High-cut double-face jackets came with a frontispiece that was applied via magnet at the collarbone; cashmere mock turtlenecks in black or white nodded to the clerical.
