As if the year 2020 wasn't difficult enough, prominent designer Alexander Wang was forced into hot water with allegations of sexual misconduct. As Page Six reports, British model Owen Mooney came forward in early December 2020 with claims that Wang groped him in a very crowded New York City nightclub. On his TikTok account, Mooney called Wang a massive sexual predator and adds that "a load of people" have been in similar situations with the designer.

While many have accused Mooney of being a clout chaser, Instagram account shitmodelmanagement, a brainchild of a "model exposing the truth," posted anonymous stories of alleged victims on December 29, 2020.  The post said that many male and trans models have already came out and accused Wang of sexual abuse and to show support, shitmodelmanagement asked people to unfollow Wang on social media and to boycott his clothing line. The anonymous stories mostly share a common occurrence, the alleged victims have been made to drink what they thought was water laced with a party drug called "Molly" and have found themselves being forced into doing something that they didn't want. Some claim to have escaped while others have cried rape.

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A second Instagram account, diet_prada, have also posted something similar and claims that there are many tweets on Twitter that have more details about these kinds of encounters with Wang and they go back several years. Vogue reports that a Vanity Fair video from 2016 shows the musician Florence Welch explaining the designer's "party trick" of vodka disguised as water, while former Wang muse and musician Azealia Banks posted accounts of the designer groping trans women on her Instagram account. 

Wang speaks out against sexual misconduct accusations.

Vogue shares that the designer provided them a statement where Wang says, "While I have always been active in my social life, frequently attending various industry gatherings, parties, and concerts where drugs and alcohol were present-contrary to what has been said, I have never taken advantage of others in a sexual manner or forced anything on anyone without consent. I also have never abused my status or fame for my own benefit." Wang has also posted an abbreviated version of the statement on his personal Instagram account.

While he removed his initial statement regarding this matter, he posted a second one on his Instagram account to "address the recent false, fabricated and mostly anonymous accusations" against him. He laments over the disregard for "evidence or fact checking" and adds that his team is investigating the claims. In the same statement, Wang promises to "remain honest and transparent" during the process and says that he's thankful for the overwhelming support that he's gotten in his ongoing personal crisis. Comments have been disabled on this particular post and several others, while a December 17 post earned a slew of vitriolic comments directed at the fallen designer.

Accusers are seeking legal action.

Still, Wang isn't without defendants. There are several testimonials from industry insiders that express their support for the embattled designer. One of those colleagues is Heather Hughes, an agent at Elite Model Management. Hughes writes that she and Wang have been working together for nearly 15 years and describes Wang as "one of the kindest people in our business" and that he treats models as human beings. However, the people accusing Wang of sexual misconduct are seeking legal action. Prominent lawyer Lisa Bloom, who has also handled similar cases against fashion photographer Bruce Weber and designer and Guess? co-founder Paul Marciano, is now representing some of them.

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