Fashion designer Alexander Wang faces fresh sexual assault allegations: ‘He unzipped my trousers’
Fashion designer Alexander Wang is facing fresh accusations of sexual assault (Getty/Steven Ferdman)
Fashion designer Alexander Wang is facing fresh accusations of sexual assault from a young design student.
Keaton Bullen, a student at New York’s Parsons School of Design, spoke out about his encounter with the New York-based designer, one of the biggest names in fashion.
Speaking to the BBC, Bullen says he encountered Wang at the Fishbowl club in New York City when he was just 20, and had spoken to him about design.
Bullen, now 21, said after he and a friend were offered vodka by Wang, “all of a sudden he unzipped my trousers, put his hands in my pants and started grabbing my penis in front of a bunch of people”.
“I completely froze,” he continued.
“He then said: ‘I want to take you home with me’. I felt weirded out… and removed myself from the situation as fast as possible.”
Alexander Wang strongly denies allegations of sexual assault
Alexander Wang strongly denies the claims, and his lawyers say they are awaiting CCTV footage from the club which “will totally disprove this allegation”.
Bullen says he is not taking legal action over the incident, but felt a duty to speak out to support others who have come forward.
High-profile lawyer Lisa Bloom, who has forged a career representing both victims and perpetrators of sexual misconduct, has said she is representing 11 people in the fashion industry with allegations against Wang.
Alexander Wang attends the 2018 New York City Pride March. File photo. (Getty/Steven Ferdman)
Bloom, who is a controversial figure due to her previous work for Harvey Weinstein, said: “The fashion industry is long overdue for a reckoning of its frequent, disturbing mistreatment of models. I’ve represented many alleging sexual misconduct in recent years.
“Models are not props, and they have the same rights to workplace respect as everyone else. I thank everyone who has reached out in support, and I’m happy to speak for free and confidentially to any others, including witnesses.”
Several people have come forward with allegations of sexual assault
Allegations against Alexander Wang first surfaced in December, when British model Owen Mooney claimed that Wang “took advantage” in a club in January 2017 and “just started touching me up.”
Meanwhile, construction worker Nick Ward alleged that Wang had grabbed his crotch at the Brooklyn Mirage nightclub in September 2017.
DJ Gia Garrison, who is transgender, also spoke out with similar allegations about an incident in a nightclub in February 2017.
She said: “I was dancing near him when he reached out his hand, grabbed my bikini bottoms and dragged it downward in front of everyone… as a trans woman with discomfort about certain parts of myself that I’ve since grown to love, I don’t want someone to expose my entire body like that.”
As the first wave of claims were made, Wang said: “Over the last few days, I have been on the receiving end of baseless and grotesquely false accusations.
“These claims have been wrongfully amplified by social media accounts infamous for posting defamatory material from undisclosed and/or anonymous sources with zero evidence or any fact checking whatsoever.
“Seeing these lies about me being perpetuated as truths has been infuriating. I have never engaged in the atrocious behaviour described and would never conduct myself in the manner that’s been alleged.
“I intend to get to the bottom of this and hold accountable whoever is responsible for originating these claims and viciously spreading them online.”
