Balenciaga spring/summer 2015: Wang stages a sporty spectacle

Balenciaga spring/summer 2015 (Getty)

The glossy black floor of the square catwalk wasn't quite what it seemed. Suddenly light flooded from beneath to reveal that the floor was in fact made from glass and suspended on stilts, around which dry ice snaked and curled.

With the addition of a pumping dance soundtrack, there were inevitable nightclub connotations to the scene, fitting for the younger, street-influenced edge that Alexander Wang is known for.

That was helped further by the presence of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the front row with their one-year-old daughter in tow. Quite what the toddler made of the spectacle one can only imagine.

But ignoring such distractions and returning to the show, there was a sporty edge to the collection which felt much more like Wang bringing his own ideas to the venerable house rather than walk in his predecessor's footsteps. Mesh was small in scale with little fringes which fluttered in motion and huge like fisherman's nets and crafted into tabard like dresses.

There was an unexpected floatiness to pencil skirts, while floor length coats with lapels that curved around the back where clean and covetable. Dense squares of beading were angled into diamonds placed on the front of coats and high-waisted tapered trousers.

A mostly monochrome collection was interspersed with pale lavender - a colour of the season which helped to add a femininity to the sporty, and at times strict, aesthetic.

Wang has his share of detractors, but he seems to be purposefully striding forward in an attempt to leave them behind.