American fashion designer Alexander Wang has denied ‘grotesque false’ allegations of sexual assault, as grassroots advocacy websites claim there are a large number of victims.
A British model, Owen Mooney, publicly claimed this week that Wang touched his cross at the Slake nightclub in New York during the promoter Ladyfag’s Holy Mountain party on January 21, 2017, after which a number of similar claims, mostly anonymous, emerged.
“I was alone at one point and this guy next to me obviously benefited from the fact that no one could fucking move,” Mooney, 26, claims. And he just started touching me. Pull my leg up completely, into my crotch. It made me completely freeze because I was in so much shock.
‘Then I look left to see who it was and it was this very famous fashion designer and I just could not believe he did it to me. It just shocked me even more. I just had to move myself away slowly.
“Every time I see his name mentioned or see him with the best friends of the celebrity, it just reminds me of what he did, and it’s really a cherished memory.”
By sharing Mooney, the sites Diet Prada and Shit Model Management also highlighted previous social media posts that did not come under greater attention.
Wang told the Guardian: ‘I have been on the receiving end of unfounded and grotesque false accusations for the last few days. These allegations were unlawfully corroborated by social media accounts notorious for posting defamatory material from unknown and / or anonymous sources, with no evidence or any fact-checking. ”
Gia Garison, a transmodel and actor, described alleged details of another incident during the Holy Mountain party in Slake in February 2017: ‘He tried to take off my panties and exposed my genitals in the VIP area of a nightclub . ‘
She said: ‘It was just another night and then I remembered that I had introduced Alexander Wang and then talked to him. I just remembered that I was dancing around, and he was cooling down with his position and then stretched to my bikini bottom and tried to pull it off.
“I said, ‘What are you doing, what the fuck,’ and walked away. I did not make much of it at the moment, because I was just in club mode and tried to brush things off my shoulder and not ruin my night … I have done many shots where they have me in his clothes wanted to post since then and I just said no. ”
A young man named Nick, who did not want her surname to be published, also appeared in the media with a report from an evening out in New York City in August 2017 after he told him earlier in the year met.
“I went dark at one club and found him giving me a job,” he said. ‘The second time, I disappeared into our Uber and woke up when I verbally approached him in the car. I honestly feel so embarrassed and manipulated. “According to reports, Nick and Wang remain in contact.
Nick Ward, who works for a construction company in New York, also claims that Wang suddenly grabbed his penis, this time at the Brooklyn Mirage nightclub in the early morning hours of September 10, 2017.
“It was shocking,” he said. “It definitely softened me up a bit. I was like, ‘Wait, holy shit.’ He grabbed me, hugged me and with his entourage moved forward through the club without missing a beat. ”
Wang, 37, said: “It was furious to see these lies perpetuated about me as truths. I have never engaged in the descriptive abominable behavior and would never behave as claimed. I intend to take note of this and be responsible for whoever is responsible for the origin of these allegations and their malicious distribution online. ”
The Model Alliance said it stands in solidarity with Wang’s defendants and criticizes the greater absence of support for victims. “The lack of transparency and accountability of the fashion industry leaves all models vulnerable to abuse, regardless of their gender or gender identity,” the statement said.
As the allegations spread on social media this week, Wang’s Instagram account was modified so that it could not receive any more comments. On Sunday, he posted a photo on a beach.
The designer was earlier criticized for casting rapper R Kelly, who has since been exposed to a serial predator and faced with various sexual offenses, in a 2017 campaign after lengthy allegations of serious abuse.
Born in San Francisco and moved to New York at the age of 18, Wang became notorious for his lively lifestyle and hosting events attended by A-listers as his brand of the same name grew after its founding in 2005. He was creative director at the Paris fashion house Balenciaga from 2012 to 2015.