The boy has become a man – and now Alexander Wang’s girl has become a woman. With impeccable tailoring, mature restraint, and an interesting sense of sobriety, it is clear Wang has come a long way as of Fall 2012. Luckily, that doesn’t mean he has gotten boring.

Almost every bit of fabric was a magic trick on the eye, an illusion of sorts, like loads of lacquered tweed. As for the shoes: out with the creeper boots and chunky, fringed sandals. Knee-high boots, blends of patent and matte leather, are grown-up and angular. With cutouts at the top, they are like riding boots or city galoshes gone both wayward and sophisticated. His pointy, seamed, closed-heel, and brass hardware-accented riff on the Mary Jane (a style we’re seeing all up and down the runways this Fashion Week) still has his trademark funk, especially with layered tights underneath, but it’s all sleeker, meaner, sharper, and more elegant. If there was any doubt that Wang isn’t here for the long haul, cementing his name as one of top American lifestyle brands, then none remains now.