>> After his Spring 2009 footwear debut had a waitlist of 900 at Opening Ceremony, Alexander Wang is going full speed ahead with accessories, he tells W.   Eyewear will debut for Spring 2010, and he's expanding his T collection to include more than just cotton tanks and T-shirts, but the concept will still incorporate the “T-shirt culture of throwing something on and running out of the house.” 

With increasingly more attention, Wang is careful about getting to schticky: "I’ve seen so many designers fall into that trap. The fun part is being able to evolve and challenge yourself . . . If you get too comfortable, it’s not invigorating. I’ve always remembered something Marc Jacobs said in an interview: As soon as people get used to what you’re doing, you have to change direction.”

Marc is a big influence on Alex.

"I never really got to talk to Marc when I was interning [for him]. I'd, like, close my eyes when I walked past the design room. But he's someone whose career I really watched. The thing about his collections is that there's always this very identifiable statement each season, but you can go in the store and actually wear [the clothes]. That's the feeling I like, to get inspired by something and then actually have it applicable to my life."

So are the '90s — as evidenced by the names of his bags.

"Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford would always talk about how they're Seventies kids. And now, I'm thinking about how I'm really a Nineties kid. My ideas come from things that I didn't notice were trends at the time, like seeing my sister wear Via Spiga and watching Saved by the Bell . . . The shoes are named after models — Lara, Hanne, Raquel — but the bags are named after TV show characters. We have the Brenda [inspired by an old toiletry bag] and Kelly [90210], the Dorothy shopper [The Golden Girls] and the Trudy [Miami Vice]. They're all the shows that used to be on TV when I was growing up."