Alexander Wang needs to act his age: Dive into the awful assault allegations
Over the past few days, a New York fashion designer has faced allegations of sexual assault. Alexander Wang, age thirty-seven, is the latest fashion figure to get struck with such accusations. People have been sharing their experiences with him on social media, exposing years of the designer’s predatory history.
Wang’s alleged victims are coming forward with their stories, which include getting groped by Wang and even drugged by him. The accusations became widely public just a few days after his birthday, just after the many A-list celebrities & models he works with sent him birthday wishes on social media.
The allegations came to light after Sh*t Model Management & Diet Prada posted about them on their Instagram accounts. The two accounts are watchdog groups with a goal of exposing wrongdoing in the fashion industry. In their post, Diet Prada mentioned Owen Mooney, a graphic designer who came forward with his story about Wang on TikTok.
Beginning of the allegations: Owen Mooney
On December 11th, Mooney posted a TikTok video about Wang. The video was part of a trend where people answer the prompt asking “what is your weirdest ‘seeing a celebrity in public’ experience”. Mooney said: “Being sexually assaulted by one counts, right?”
Mooney used the TikTok trend to talk about an event in 2017 where he was groped by Wang at a club. He said the club was very crowded, making it difficult to move around. Then he said someone “took advantage” of the crowd and touched him inappropriately. He said he looked over and saw it was “a really famous fashion designer.”
“I just chouldn’t believe that he was doing that to me,” he said in the video.
@owenamooney Reply to @hannah_mantanna yep, Alexander Wang is a sexual predator, pass it on #fyp #foryoupage
Owen Mooney’s follow up video
In his initial video, Mooney didn’t say the person in the club was Wang. But a top comment said “it’s Alexander Wang.” On December 13th, Mooney made a video following up on his story and confirmed the designer in the club was Wang. He described him by name as a “sexual predator.”
“The previous video, the best thing to do was to not mention any names but this comment surprised me just because they actually got it right,” said Mooney. “There’s been loads of other people that he’s done that to, so in that case he needs to be exposed.”
Other recent allegations
Mooney isn’t the only one who recently came forward. Sh*t Model Management’s Instagram post from Monday included screenshots of people telling their stories about how Wang assaulted them. People shared their stories ranging from allegedly getting groped by Wang to accusations of rape.
In one of the screenshots, someone claimed Wang gave out water spiked with drugs. “One friend of mine, who is a trans man, was in a limo for an after party with him a while ago. Upon getting inside the car, they were given water and they felt uneasy about the whole thing bc Alex was making sure they all finished their water,” the anonymous person said.
“Alexander Wang is an alleged sexual predator, many male models and trans models have come out and spoken about the alleged sexual abuse that Alexander Wang has inflicted upon them. It is important to show your support to these victims by unfollowing Alexander Wang and boycotting his clothing line,” Sh*t Model Management’s post said.
Support from The Model Alliance
The Model Alliance, an advocacy group for models, also spoke up about Wang’s allegations through Instagram on Tuesday.
“We at the Model Alliance stand in solidarity with those who have shared accusations of sexual abuse by Alexander Wang,” the post said. Let’s be clear: The fashion industry’s lack of transparency and accountability leaves all models vulnerable to abuse, regardless of their sex or gender identity.”
Alexander Wang’s rise to power and fame
Wang moved to New York City at age eighteen to attend Parsons School of Design. He didn’t graduate, but decided to pursue a fashion label in 2005 after two years of attending. At age twenty-three, Alexander Wang presented a women’s collection on the catwalk in New York. Then, at age twenty-four, Wang won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.
Since then, he’s made himself well known within the industry. The stories people are sharing about Wang are still just allegations and haven’t been investigated by law enforcement. However, it’s unclear if or when Wang will face consequences from the law. But his career will likely change after people exposed him this week.
