王大仁能扮演好"一仆二主"的角色吗

The list of what the 30-year-old designer Alexander Wang does not look like is long.

30岁的设计师王大仁(Alexander Wang)让人出乎意料的地方还真不少。

He does not look, at first glance, like a symbolic figure. He does not look like someone who could change the prevailing wisdom of his industry. He does not look like the boss of a storied Parisian atelier. He does not look like a facile juggler of brands, people and responsibilities. He does not look like a lightning rod. And he does not look like a Ping-Pong ball, although he claims to occasionally identify with the concept.

第一眼看上去，他并不像是一位标志性人物；不像是一位能改变时尚业共识的人物；不像是一位拥有一间名声显赫的巴黎工作室的人；不像是一位能在多个品牌、各色人等和繁忙事务之间游刃有余的多面手；不像是一个毁誉加身的人物；他更不像一个乒乓球，尽管他自称偶尔会对这个概念感到心有戚戚焉。

What he does look like is a chirpy, black-clad club kid with a messy ponytail. But if fashion teaches us anything, it is that appearances can be deceiving. Because Mr. Wang is all of the above.

他看起来就是个活力十足的时尚潮人，一身黑色打扮、梳着个乱糟糟的马尾辫 。但是，如果时尚业教给了我们任何事情的话，那就是人不可貌相，因为他就是集以上种种角色于一身的人物。

In 2012, five years after inaugurating his eponymous brand and becoming a darling of the New York contemporary fashion scene, Mr. Wang shocked the fashion world when he was also named the creative director of Balenciaga, becoming not only the first American designer in over a decade to run a heritage French name, but the first designer since the recession to attempt to run two houses — and the first since John Galliano, the artistic director of Christian Dior, blamed his 2011 drug-and-alcohol-fueled implosion on the pressures of running both Dior and his own brand.

在推出自己的同名品牌并成为纽约时尚界的新宠五年之后，王大仁于2012年被命名为法国品牌巴黎世家(Balenciaga)的创意总监，再次震撼了时尚界。他不但成为十多年来首位执掌法国老店的美国籍创意总监，而且是上一轮经济危机之后首位试图同时领导两个品牌的设计师。上一位这么做的是克里斯汀·迪奥(Christian Dior)艺术总监约翰·加利亚诺（John Galliano，他于2011年在巴黎一家酒吧内，在毒品和酒精的双重作用下大发反犹言论，后遭解雇——译注），而后者把自己的出格行为归咎于兼顾克里斯汀·迪奥和自己的品牌所带来的巨大压力。

Now Mr. Wang spends his time flying between Paris and New York; a TriBeCa apartment and a five-star hotel in the 16th Arrondissement of Paris; his home country and a country where he does not understand the language; the worlds of a family owned independent company and the world of a giant conglomerate (Balenciaga is owned by Kering, the French luxury group that also owns Saint Laurent, Gucci and Alexander McQueen, among other brands). And in doing so, he has become the poster boy for a renewed debate in the fashion world.

现在，王大仁在纽约和巴黎之间来回穿梭，在纽约时住在自己位于翠贝卡区的公寓，到巴黎则下榻第16区的一家五星级酒店。他生长在美国，并不懂法语；他自己的品牌是家族拥有的独立公司，而巴黎世家则是一个庞大集团的下属品牌（巴黎世家母公司是法国奢侈品业巨头开云集团[Kering]，旗下还有圣洛朗[Saint Laurent]、古奇[Gucci]、亚历山大·麦昆[Alexander McQueen]等品牌）。领导两个品牌使他成为时尚界新一轮的招牌争议人物。

“The million-dollar question is how much is one designer able to have two mind-sets?” said Robert Burke, the founder of an eponymous luxury brand consultancy and a former fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman.

“人人都关心的问题是：一位设计师在多大的程度上能拥有两种设计理念？”罗伯特·博克(Robert Burke)说。博克经营着以自己名字命名的自创奢侈品牌咨询公司，他曾经是伯格多夫－古德曼百货公司(Bergdorf Goodman)的时尚总监。

As he enters his fourth season as a dual citizen with spring-summer ready-to-wear, Mr. Wang, who has also taken on designing a third collection for H & M, due out in November, finally feels comfortable enough to provide some answers.

做为美法两国的双重居民，王大仁就要以一个春夏成衣系列开始他的第四个时装季。今年十一月，他还要推出为H&M设计的一系列服装。这是他第三次与H&M合作。现在，王总算觉得能够坦然回答上面那个问题了。

“I felt like I had another voice inside me,” he said one morning two weeks before his spring-summer show, while poking at some berries and yogurt at the Tribeca Grand, a hotel a few blocks from his office, which was being renovated (the timing was, he admitted, “not great”).

“我觉得在我身体里面有另外一个声音，”在他的春夏成衣发布会两个星期前的一个早上，他一边接受采访，一边搅拌着一份果莓酸奶。我们在离他办公室几个街区远的翠贝卡大酒店。酒店正在装修。（他说，我们的时机“不是太好”。）

“A big part of making this work has been learning to let go,” he said. “It was very hard, because I was used to being involved in everything. But while this is my passion and I have devoted myself to it, I am not going to kill myself for it.”

“我工作的很大一部分都需要我学会如何放权，”他说，“这很难，因为我习惯了事必躬亲。虽然我热爱并投身于我的工作，但我不会为工作玩命。”

His choice of words, while joking, is not entirely accidental: In recent years the fashion world has been rocked by the suicides of Alexander McQueen and L’Wren Scott. And though neither was blamed on the industry (or not entirely), there was much discussion of the way the pressure has ratcheted up along with the pace, which now demands, at the very least, four new collections a year — for one brand.

他用了“玩命”这个字眼，虽然有玩笑的意思，但并不完全是出于偶然。最近几年，亚历山大·麦昆和劳伦·斯考特(L’Wren Scott)的自杀震动了时尚界。虽然这两起惨剧并不能（或是并不全部）怪罪到时尚业上，但是却激起了人们对时尚业节奏加快而导致工作压力剧增的讨论。现在惯常的做法是一位设计师必须在一年之内至少推出四个服装系列——而这只是一个品牌。

Double that, or, if men’s wear and accessories are included, quadruple it or quintuple it, add in assorted global flagship openings, and it’s impossible not to wonder if anyone can be creative enough to sustain the quality of what can amount to more than 30 collections a year. Is it possible to have the mental, emotional and even physical stamina?

而把这个加倍——如果算上男士服装和配饰的话，还得乘四倍或是五倍，再加上各种各样的全球旗舰店开张，人们不可能不问：有谁能有这样的创意才能在一年之内推出总量超过30个系列，并保证它们的品质？一个人有可能有这样的脑力、情感承受力，甚至体力吗？

On one side are those who believe that focus on one house is the best way to ensure success: Marc Jacobs, who last October left his post at Louis Vuitton after 16 years to “concentrate on his own brand”; Hermès, which recently switched strategies and appointed its first women’s wear artistic director in 14 years not to have another brand; and Riccardo Tisci, who closed his own brand when he joined Givenchy in 2005.

这些问题的回答分为两派。一派认为，只有把精力专注在一个品牌上，才是保证成功的不二之法。持这种观点的有马克·雅可布(Marc Jacobs)——他在去年十月份离开了供职16年之久的路易·威登(Louis Vuitton)以专注自己的品牌；爱马仕则在最近改变了策略，任命了14年来第一位女装艺术总监，并不再发展别的品牌；里卡多·蒂西(Riccardo Tisci)在2005年加入纪梵希时也关闭了自己品牌。

On the other are a growing group of new-gen names who, like Mr. Wang, believe two can be better than one. Jonathan Anderson, who turns 30 this month, was appointed creative director of Loewe last autumn and will maintain his eponymous brand; 31-year-old Jason Wu, founder of his own brand, was also appointed creative director of Hugo Boss women’s wear in June of 2013; Zac Posen, 33, founder of his own brand, is, as of this summer, also creative director of Brooks Brothers women’s wear; and Jeremy Scott, 39, took on Moschino as well as his own brand last year.

而另一派则认为两个比一个好。持这种观点的人大多数是像王大仁一样的新生代，他们的人数在不断扩大。这个月刚30岁的乔纳森·安德森(Jonathan Anderson)就是其中一位。他在被罗意威(Loewe)任命为创意总监后还保留着自己的同名品牌。31岁的吴季刚(Jason Wu)也有自已的品牌，他在2013年6月被任命为雨果博斯(Hugo Boss)的女装创意总监；同样拥有自己品牌的33岁的扎克·博森(Zac Posen)在今年夏天刚出任了布鲁克斯兄弟(Brooks Brothers)女装的创意总监；39岁的杰瑞米·斯科特(Jeremy Scott)在去年加入了莫斯奇诺(Moschino)，并推出了自己的品牌。

Meanwhile, of the first generation to embark on the two houses/one designer model — Michael Kors, who from 1997-2004 was also creative director of Céline; Narciso Rodriguez, who worked at his own line and Loewe from 1997-2001; Tom Ford, who had both Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent from 2000-2004; not to mention Mr. Galliano and Mr. Jacobs — only Karl Lagerfeld is still doing double duty (or triple: at Chanel, Fendi and his own brand).

最早开始同时为两个品牌效力的设计师中也有一些响亮的名字：迈克尔·科尔斯(Michael Kors)在1997年到2004年同时是赛琳(Céline)的创意总监；纳西索·罗德里格斯(Narciso Rodriguez)在1997年到2001 年之间为罗意威效力，并同时拥有自己的品牌；汤姆·福特(Tom Ford)在2000年到2004年间同时掌管古驰和伊夫·圣罗兰(Yves Saint Laurent)；还有加里亚诺和雅格布斯。但是他们都停止了这种身兼两职的工作方式——现在只有卡尔·拉格菲尔德(Karl Lagerfeld)还在同时为香奈儿和芬迪(Fendi)工作（并同时打理自己的品牌）。

Is the new group simply too young to know better? Or is there a more fundamental shift going on?

新生代究竟是太年轻，不知天高地厚，还是时尚业正经历着某种更为本质的变化？

“Well, I think they have definitely learned from history,” said Mr. Kors, who remembered running into Mr. Wang in Paris at the time of his first Balenciaga collection and telling him, “Now it’s your turn to be permanently jet-lagged.”

“我认为他们肯定是吸取了前人的教训，”科尔斯说。他记起有一次在巴黎遇见王大仁。那时王刚发布了他第一个巴黎世家系列。科尔斯对他说：“现在轮到你永远都要在倒时差了。”

“Of course I was scared in the beginning,” Mr. Wang said. “I said no when Kering first approached me. When I started to consider it, no one told me I was crazy, but they did tell me I had to protect myself. We discussed from the very initial stages Kering’s expectations of me, not just in terms of where they wanted Balenciaga to go, but personal appearances, press, stuff like that. I’m not going to be going to China every month. I’m not going to fly to Europe and back the next day for one interview.”

“一开始的时候我的确很害怕，”王说。“当开云集团最初跟我接触时，我拒绝了他们。而当我开始认真考虑的时候，倒是没有人说我疯掉了，他们只是告诉我必须保护自己。我们从合作的最初阶段就讨论了开云对我的期望，还不仅仅是他们对巴黎世家的今后走向的想法，而是诸如我的个人形象、媒体发布等具体细节。比如说我不用每个月都要去中国，我也不用为了接受一个采访而在两天之内往返欧洲。

Joseph Altuzarra, a New York designer who has been a close friend of Mr. Wang for seven years, said he was not surprised that of his generation of designers, Mr. Wang was the first to make the leap. (Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony and Kenzo, who are often included in this group, are a somewhat different case: Aside from being two people, they actually became creative directors of the French house before they brought their line, which began as part of their multibrand retail operation, to New York Fashion Week.)

王大仁七年的密友约瑟夫·奥图扎拉(Joseph Altuzarra)是一位纽约设计师。他说在他这一代设计师中，他一点也不奇怪王成为了同时掌管两个品牌的第一人。（纽约潮店“开幕式”[Opening Ceremony]的两位店主杭博托·里昂[Humberto Leon]和凯洛尔·林[Carol Lim]与高田贤三[Kenzo]的合作虽然常常被归为这一类，但是却有所不同。撇开他们是两个人不说，他们是在和Kenzo这个法国品牌合作后才把自己的品牌带到了纽约时装周上。而之前，他们的品牌只不过是潮流店“开幕式”销售的众多品牌之一。）

“He has the right personality to have split jobs, because he is very efficient,” Mr. Altuzarra said. “He is not very conflicted in his choices. He is good at taking risks.”

“他的性格很适合同时肩挑两职，” 奥图扎拉说。“因为他非常有效率。他善于接受冒险——一旦做出选择，他就不会过多纠结 。”

Mr. Wang, who grew up in San Francisco, dropped out of Parsons the New School for Design after two years to start his own business in 2007; it has since grown to include men’s wear and a less expensive line, T by Alexander Wang, for both men and women.

王大仁在旧金山长大。在帕森斯设计学院学习两年后于2007年辍学创业。他的品牌成长到现在，包括男士服装和一个男女系列都涵盖的平价副牌——T by Alexander Wang。

“The key is having a very strong vision and being able to articulate it,” said Simon Collins, dean of fashion at Parsons. “If you are doing two houses, you can’t just mince about and watch them evolve.”

“关键是你必须要有很成熟的想法并能够把它表现出来，” 帕森斯的时尚设计系主任西蒙·柯林斯(Simon Collins)说，“如果你给两个品牌设计，只有一些雏形零散的想法然后再指望后期发展是行不通的。”

Mr. Kors said, “What you need above all is endurance.”

而科尔斯说：“最需要的就是毅力。”

Mr. Wang is a proponent of deadlines and bullet-point emails. After every meeting, either at Balenciaga or Wang, he sends memos reiterating what was decided, if anything still needed to be decided and if so, who would decide it, on what basis and by when. According to Rodrigo Bazan, chief executive of Alexander Wang, Mr. Wang answers his emails within a day, if not sooner; François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of Kering, pointed out that the designer’s schedule is mapped out and shared “a year in advance.”

王大仁推崇最后期限和要点式电子邮件。不论是在巴黎世家还是在自己的公司，每一次会议结束后，他都会发送备忘录，重申做出的决定，或是尚待决定的事物——由谁、基于什么因素、在何时之前必须搞定。罗德里格·巴赞(Rodrigo Bazan)是王大仁公司的首席执行官。他说王回复他的电邮不会超过一天。开云的首席执行官弗兰索瓦-亨利·皮诺(François-Henri Pinault)说，王的日程提前一年就会被安排出来并且发送给同事们。

It’s understandable, given that one afternoon can mean: “shooting the Wang pre-fall lookbook, doing Wang men’s fittings and a whole raft of Balenciaga approvals,” Mr. Wang said. “I was going in and out of rooms like crazy.”

如果你了解王大仁的繁忙日程，那这一切都不难理解。一个下午王要完成的工作可能会包括“拍摄王的初秋造型目录，给王的男装试衣，还有一堆巴黎世家的事务需要批示，”王说。“我在不同的房间里进进出出就像疯了一样。”

On the other hand, the situation has been leavened by the lifestyle difference between Europe and the United States: In August, when Italian factories close, Mr. Wang is free to focus on his eponymous brand; since his New York show occurs two and a half weeks before the Balenciaga show, following the Wang presentation, he goes immediately to Europe, where he stays through the show to shoot the look book and ad campaign. In turn, this gives his Wang team time to get to prototypes for accessories made in Italy, so when he returns they are ready for review.

但是另一方面，欧洲和美国生活方式的差异使这种忙碌的局面有所缓和：在八月意大利的工厂都休假的时候，王大仁就有时间专注自己的品牌；他在纽约的时装秀比巴黎世家提早两个半星期——这样在自己品牌的发布结束后，他紧接着就去欧洲，为巴黎世家的发布拍摄造型目录和广告。而他自已品牌的团队可以利用这段时间开始初步设计将要在意大利生产的配饰，以便王回到纽约时审核。

Mr. Bazan said they were careful from the beginning to keep the Wang and Balenciaga design and corporate teams completely separate, to avoid cannibalization. The only shared employee is an assistant who travels with Mr. Wang between brands (he also has an assistant who deals with Wang and his personal organization).

巴赞说他们从一开始就非常在意把王大仁和巴黎世家的设计和公司团队彻底分开，以防它们之间互相吞噬。唯一一位两个团队都分享的雇员是一位助理，陪同王在两个品牌之间奔波。（他还另有一位助理，负责打理王和他的个人机构的事务。）

Though the fashion world initially speculated that Mr. Wang’s appointment at Balenciaga meant the erstwhile couture brand, known for its founder’s purism and the boundary-pushing vision of its former creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, would come “down from its lofty pedestal,” as Suzy Menkes wrote in The International New York Times, Mr. Pinault said that it was exactly the difference between what Mr. Wang’s own brand stood for and what Balenciaga represented that first drew their attention to the designer.

作为高级时装品牌，巴黎世家以它创始人的纯粹主义和它前任创意总监尼古拉·盖斯奇埃尔(Nicolas Ghesquière)不断突破前沿的想象力而闻名于世。时尚界最初猜测，王的加盟意味着巴黎世家会从它——引用苏西·门克斯(Suzy Menkes)在《国际纽约时报》文章里的话——“高高在上的神坛走下来”。但是皮诺却说，他们最初正是被王的自有品牌和巴黎世家之间的差异所吸引。

“We looked very carefully at whether the two brands were compatible or competitive,” he said, noting that though there were other serious candidates, Mr. Wang was “No. 1. We saw that his own brand was at such a different place in terms of market and creative identity that it would not be a problem.”

他说， “我们非常仔细地考量了这两个品牌之间是否会相辅相成，亦或产生竞争。”他指出，开云还认真考虑过别的设计师，但王是他们“第一人选。我们看到他的自有品牌跟巴黎世家在市场和创意个性上完全不同，所有不会有什么问题”。

This is a crucial distinction between Mr. Wang’s situation and the double-duty designers of the past, most of whose own lines shared a notable aesthetic bond with the houses they assumed, whether it was Mr. Galliano and Dior (which often looked indistinguishable) or Mr. Kors and Céline, which took on a palpable sportswear sheen under his direction. As Mr. Burke, the consultant, pointed out, generally, “what a person is attracted to aesthetically is what they are attracted to.”

王大仁和过去身兼两职的设计师们有一个关键的不同之处在于：后者的自有品牌和他们的兼职品牌之间大多在审美上有着显而易见的纽带相连。比如加利亚诺的自有品牌和迪奥经常难以分辨；而赛琳在科尔斯掌舵后很明显体现了一种运动风格。就像品牌咨询专家博克指出的，一般说来，“一个人的审美品位决定了他的喜好 。”

But, Mr. Wang said: “Seeing the Balenciaga archives triggered ideas I didn’t even know I had. My brand was just about me, my friends, where we were going. I never had a pre-existing foundation to pull from before. It was a very different situation.”

但是，王大仁解释说：“在看到巴黎世家过去的作品时，我产生了一些想法。能有这些想法连我自己都感到吃惊。我的同名品牌诠释的是我自己、我的朋友们和我们的未来；并没有什么传统让我从中汲取灵感。而为巴黎世家设计是完全不同的过程。”

While it is true that Mr. Wang’s Balenciaga is notably more approachable and less creatively ambitious than that of Mr. Ghesquière (kind of the Balenciaga for non-Balenciaga obsessives), it has not been trivialized to the extent his critics feared. Last season’s bonded cable-knit coats and cocooning pearl-shouldered knits over slick black-tie trousers clearly fulfill his Kering-given mandate to bring some modernity and youthful energy to the house.

王为巴黎世家设计的作品显然更接地气，并没有像盖斯奇埃尔那样野心勃勃的创意。尽管如此，王的作品并不像他的评论者所担心的那样小家子气。从上一季的绞花编织大衣，茧形的肩部有珠饰的编织上衣和与之搭配的剪裁利落的礼服西裤，可以很清楚地看出开云交给王的任务——那就是给巴黎世家注入现代和青春的活力。

And if its founder, Cristóbal Balenciaga, was never particularly concerned with keeping up with the times, as the critic Kennedy Fraser pointed out in her 1981 book “The Fashionable Mind,” so it goes in fashion: Houses evolve or they become irrelevant.

评论家肯尼迪·弗雷泽(Kennedy Fraser)在她1981年出版《时尚心灵》(The Fashionable Mind)中指出，巴黎世家的创始人克里斯托瓦尔·巴朗斯加(Cristóbal Balenciaga)从来不是特别在意跟上时代潮流。但是时尚界的真理却是：品牌如果不变革就会落后于潮流。

If anything, Mr. Wang’s access to the Balenciaga atelier and factories seems to have pushed his thinking at his own brand; his last show, which featured astrakhan T-shirts, leather cargo pants and 1960s minidresses hiked forward by contemporary utility detailing, was notably more sophisticated than what had come before.

别的不说，能够近距离接触巴黎世家工作室和工厂倒好像是拓展了王对自已品牌的设计理念。他在上一个发布会展示的仿羊皮T恤，皮制的工装裤和有着现代实用主义细节、60年代风格的超短裙 ，都明显要比他之前的作品复杂精致。

Still, Mr. Wang does admit that on occasion his Wang-Balenciaga liaison will whisper, “that looks a lot like something you just did for [fill in the brand],” and he will take a step back and realize she was right.

然而，王大仁承认， 在他的两个品牌之间负责联络的同事有时会私下里对他说：“这个看上去很像你刚为（王/巴黎世家)设计的那件作品。”稍作迟疑之后，王明白她说的是对的。

As his business and his responsibilities have grown, Mr. Wang said he has made certain changes in his life. The former party boy no longer goes out during the week. His only vacation this summer was a week in early August when he visited his family in San Francisco.

王说事业工作上的职责与日俱增，他不得不改变一些生活方式。这位之前的派对男孩不再在工作日时出去寻欢。今年夏天他的唯一一次休假是去旧金山与家人度过了一周。

“When I saw everyone’s Instagrams of their summer holidays, I did feel a little pang,” he said.

“当我看到别人在Instagram上贴出的暑假照片，我真是觉得有些惆怅”，他说。

And he has learned to deal with isolation. The fact that he does not speak French is not an issue at work (almost everyone speaks English), but it does mean that he has given up on the idea of an apartment. “What if the electricity went off, how would I call anyone?” he said.

他还学会了独处。他不会说法语，这在工作上倒没什么问题（几乎所有人都会说英语），但是这意味着他不得不放弃租个公寓的想法。“万一没电了，我怎么打电话求助？” 他说。

“I have no social life in Paris, I don’t know anyone I feel comfortable enough to have dinner with,” he said. “But in a way it helps balance me out. On Sundays when I am there and I have no one to call and nothing is open, I just walk around, and it forces me to spend time in my head.”

“我在巴黎没有社交，我没有熟稔到能够一起吃晚饭的朋友，”他说。“但是从某种角度说，这给了我一种平衡感。星期天我在这儿的时候，没有人可以和我讲电话，所有的地方又都关门。我就到处闲逛，这使得我能静下心来思考。”

As to whether he is a role model for his peers or those who will come next, Mr. Wang refuses to be drawn. Judging by the numbers, the decision to do two brands has been productive. The Alexander Wang company has been growing by approximately 20 percent a year for the last three years, had 2013 revenues of just over $100 million and will have 20 stores globally by year end; in 2015, it is to open its first free-standing European store, and largest store over all, in London. Meanwhile, Balenciaga is also experiencing double-digit retail growth, Mr. Pinault said.

至于他是否是同辈或是后来人的榜样，王拒绝回答这个问题。从数字来看，身兼两职的决定使得两个品牌都得益匪浅。王大仁公司在过去三年里以每年大约百分之二十的速度增长；2013年的营业额刚好超过了一亿美元，全球分店的数量将在今年年底之前达到20个；在2015年，公司还将在伦敦开设该品牌在欧洲的第一家独址商店，这也将是全球最大的一家分店。同时，皮诺说巴黎世家的零售增长率也达到了两位数。

According to Mr. Collins of Parsons: “Our students would all love to be Alex. They don’t expect to ever have only one job. They expect to have three or four at any given time.”

帕森斯设计学院的柯林斯说：“我们的学生都想成为王大仁。一份工根本满足不了他们，他们都想在某一时段同时做三份或是四份工作。”

Even Mr. Altuzarra said he could imagine doing more than one brand, and would consider it if the right opportunity presented itself.

连奥图扎拉都说他能够想象同时为不止一个品牌工作，如果有合适的机会，他会考虑尝试。

Mr. Burke said he saw the current employment trend as simply the natural swing of the fashion pendulum.

博克说现在这种雇佣趋势只不过是时尚业自然波动的体现。

“Things go in cycles,” he said. “There was a retrenchment during the recession, and a feeling a brand or a designer should do what they did best. Then that became a little boring, so everyone went looking for freshness and excitement. However, in Alex’s case, if we see either brand start to lose their identity, people will immediately start saying, ‘Uh, oh: designers can only do one brand.’ ”

“所有的事都是循环重复的，”他说。“在经济萧条时需要缩减预算，所以大家觉得设计师应该专注于做他最拿手的。后来大家又觉得这有点无趣，于是又开始寻找新鲜和刺激。但是，在王大仁这里，如果两个品牌中任何一个开始失去特色，人们立刻会说：‘看吧，设计师只能为一个品牌设计。’”

However, said Isabelle Guichot, the chief executive of Balenciaga: “There is a new profile for a creative person today, whether they are in fashion or music or art. The boundaries between disciplines have become fluid, and they want to express themselves in different ways. Look at Pharrell Williams.”

巴黎世家的首席执行官伊莎贝尔·吉乔特(Isabelle Guichot)却这么说：“如今，不管是时尚界，还是音乐或是艺术领域，创意人才的履历比之前有所不同。不同领域之间的划分变得模糊起来，艺术家们想要通过不同的方式表现自己。歌手法瑞尔·威廉姆斯(Pharrell Williams)就是个很好的例子。”

Mr. Pinault, who pointed out that Hedi Slimane, the creative director of Saint Laurent, also has a career as a photographer, said he agreed.

皮诺说他同意这一观点。他指出圣洛朗的创意总监艾迪·斯理曼(Hedi Slimane)同时也是个摄影家。

“It’s not like these young designers are only creative between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.,” he said. “They are creative all the time. We should do all we can to accommodate that, not restrain it — as long as it is not at the expense of the existing business, of course.”

“这些年轻的设计师可不只是早八点到晚八点之间才有创意，”他说。“他们随时都会有点子。我们应该尽我们所能容纳帮助他们，而不是限制他们。”

Even Mr. Kors said he believed social media had transformed the situation.

连科尔斯也说他相信社交媒体带来了变革。

“This generation is engaged all the time, they are busy all the time,” he said. “That has really upped the ante for how many ideas and how much creativity you can have.” And yet, he acknowledged, “we all have our limits.”

“这一代人没有闲下来的时候，他们每时每刻都在忙碌，”他说。“这确实使他们能够有更多的想法和创意。”但是，科尔斯也承认, “我们每个人都有局限。”

It is possible, of course, that Mr. Wang may reach a tipping point, and like Mr. Jacobs or Mr. Kors, decide that for his own brand to truly explode he needs to devote himself to its care. Or that he needs a different kind of balance.

当然，就像雅可布和科尔斯一样，王大仁有可能会达到一个临界点。那时，他就会觉得要使自己的品牌真正名声大噪，他要么需要全身心投入，要么需要另一种平衡。

“Right now I don’t have kids, I don’t have a dog,” Mr. Wang said. “At some point maybe I will want more of a personal life, or I will think, ‘I just can’t get on that plane again,’ but I have not put a time limit on it. When I think about stopping and just going back and doing Wang ....” He paused and shook his head.

“现在我既没有孩子，也没有狗，”王说。“没准在未来我会想有更多的私人生活。或者我会想：‘我真是不想再去坐那班飞机了’。但是现在的工作方式要持续多久，我并没有一个期限。当我想象停止巴黎世家的工作而回来专门做自己的品牌……”他摇了摇头，停顿了一下。

“I don’t know how I would do it,” he said. “It’s like a whole other area of my brain has opened up. How do you turn that off? I can’t imagine it at all.”

“我还真不知道该怎么办，”他说。“这就好像新工作唤醒了我大脑里以前从没有用过的一部分，难道能说不用就不用了吗？这真是难以想象。”