Every season at New York Fashion Week (with the exception of fall 2017), Alexander Wang feeds his fans with junk food and brings both trending and legendary musicians to his after parties. There was the year Miley Cyrus wore pasties and twerked; the one with Tinashe, Lil Wayne, and Hooters buffalo wings; the Harajuku-themed throwdown that Rihanna attended in a mullet. This year, the junk food was doughnuts and the musical acts included Cardi B, Ja Rule, and Ashanti.
But first, of course, there was a wait. When Kaia Gerber (model daughter of Cindy Crawford) finally emerged from a party bus to open Wang’s spring 2018 show, which took place in Bushwick on a dead-end street, the crowd had already been standing on the sidewalk for over an hour. Even Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian had to wait around like everyone else.
So when the show finally ended, and the crowd saw the rainbow crest of a bouncy castle beckon from the empty lot across the street, a stampede broke out. It was 10:30; time to partake of whatever pleasures Wang would be presenting this year. The doors to the lot opened briefly, then shut again, trapping people in the process like Jack and Rose trying to get from steerage to first class in the Titanic.
Instead of a frozen sea, though, what guests found inside was an inflatable pool filled with ice and Budweiser — plus blow-up air mattresses strewn about, and an inflatable igloo in which Red Bull was served over snow cones made of black ice. A-listers and models like Bella Hadid were corraled in their own section behind barricades, so only the plebes milled aimlessly about. #WangFest, it turned out, was a frat party — but the Fashion Week version where everything had a hashtag.
“The theme of tonight is inflatables,” said Alexander Wang later in the night when the air was thick enough with weed to get a slight contact high. This was after A$AP Ferg, Vince Staples, and Cardi B all performed, but before Ja Rule and Ashanti took the stage way past midnight to do classic singles like “Always on Time.”
And then there were doughnuts. Every good party needs a centerpiece, and this was it: Fluffy Dunkin’ Donuts piled high around dripping candelabras, which had their own designated attendant to keep them well lit, while another restocked them on a sliver platter. Liberace would have been proud.