王大仁能扮演好"一僕二主"的角色嗎

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

30歲的設計師王大仁(Alexander Wang)讓人出乎意料的地方還真不少。

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，他並不像是一位標誌性人物；不像是一位能改變時尚業共識的人物；不像是一位擁有一間名聲顯赫的巴黎工作室的人；不像是一位能在多個品牌、各色人等和繁忙事務之間遊刃有餘的多面手；不像是一個譭譽加身的人物；他更不像一個乒乓球，儘管他自稱偶爾會對這個概念感到心有慼慼焉。

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.

他看起來就是個活力十足的時尚潮人，一身黑色打扮、梳着個亂糟糟的馬尾辮 。但是，如果時尚業教給了我們任何事情的話，那就是人不可貌相，因爲他就是集以上種種角色於一身的人物。

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併成爲紐約時尚界的新寵五年之後，王大仁於2012年被命名爲法國品牌巴黎世家(Balenciaga)的創意總監，再次震撼了時尚界。他不但成爲十多年來首位執掌法國老店的美國籍創意總監，而且是上一輪經濟危機之後首位試圖同時領導兩個品牌的設計師。上一位這麼做的是克里斯汀·迪奧(Christian Dior)藝術總監約翰·加利亞諾（John Galliano，他於2011年在巴黎一家酒吧內，在毒品和酒精的雙重作用下大發反猶言論，後遭解僱——譯註），而後者把自己的出格行爲歸咎於兼顧克里斯汀·迪奧和自己的品牌所帶來的巨大壓力。

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.

現在，王大仁在紐約和巴黎之間來回穿梭，在紐約時住在自己位於翠貝卡區的公寓，到巴黎則下榻第16區的一家五星級酒店。他生長在美國，並不懂法語；他自己的品牌是家族擁有的獨立公司，而巴黎世家則是一個龐大集團的下屬品牌（巴黎世家母公司是法國奢侈品業巨頭開雲集團[Kering]，旗下還有聖洛朗[Saint Laurent]、古奇[Gucci]、亞歷山大·麥昆[Alexander McQueen]等品牌）。領導兩個品牌使他成爲時尚界新一輪的招牌爭議人物。

“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.

“人人都關心的問題是：一位設計師在多大的程度上能擁有兩種設計理念？”羅伯特·博克(Robert Burke)說。博克經營着以自己名字命名的自創奢侈品牌諮詢公司，他曾經是伯格多夫－古德曼百貨公司(Bergdorf Goodman)的時尚總監。

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.

做爲美法兩國的雙重居民，王大仁就要以一個春夏成衣系列開始他的第四個時裝季。今年十一月，他還要推出爲H&M設計的一系列服裝。這是他第三次與H&M合作。現在，王總算覺得能夠坦然回答上面那個問題了。

“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”).

“我覺得在我身體裏面有另外一個聲音，”在他的春夏成衣發佈會兩個星期前的一個早上，他一邊接受採訪，一邊攪拌着一份果莓酸奶。我們在離他辦公室幾個街區遠的翠貝卡大酒店。酒店正在裝修。（他說，我們的時機“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學會如何放權，”他說，“這很難，因爲我習慣了事必躬親。雖然我熱愛並投身於我的工作，但我不會爲工作玩命。”

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”這個字眼，雖然有玩笑的意思，但並不完全是出於偶然。最近幾年，亞歷山大·麥昆和勞倫·斯考特(L’Wren Scott)的自殺震動了時尚界。雖然這兩起慘劇並不能（或是並不全部）怪罪到時尚業上，但是卻激起了人們對時尚業節奏加快而導致工作壓力劇增的討論。現在慣常的做法是一位設計師必須在一年之內至少推出四個服裝系列——而這只是一個品牌。

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?

而把這個加倍——如果算上男士服裝和配飾的話，還得乘四倍或是五倍，再加上各種各樣的全球旗艦店開張，人們不可能不問：有誰能有這樣的創意才能在一年之內推出總量超過30個系列，並保證它們的品質？一個人有可能有這樣的腦力、情感承受力，甚至體力嗎？

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.

這些問題的回答分爲兩派。一派認爲，只有把精力專注在一個品牌上，纔是保證成功的不二之法。持這種觀點的有馬克·雅可布(Marc Jacobs)——他在去年十月份離開了供職16年之久的路易·威登(Louis Vuitton)以專注自己的品牌；愛馬仕則在最近改變了策略，任命了14年來第一位女裝藝術總監，並不再發展別的品牌；裏卡多·蒂西(Riccardo Tisci)在2005年加入紀梵希時也關閉了自己品牌。

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.

而另一派則認爲兩個比一個好。持這種觀點的人大多數是像王大仁一樣的新生代，他們的人數在不斷擴大。這個月剛30歲的喬納森·安德森(Jonathan Anderson)就是其中一位。他在被羅意威(Loewe)任命爲創意總監後還保留着自己的同名品牌。31歲的吳季剛(Jason Wu)也有自已的品牌，他在2013年6月被任命爲雨果博斯(Hugo Boss)的女裝創意總監；同樣擁有自己品牌的33歲的扎克·博森(Zac Posen)在今年夏天剛出任了布魯克斯兄弟(Brooks Brothers)女裝的創意總監；39歲的傑瑞米·斯科特(Jeremy Scott)在去年加入了莫斯奇諾(Moschino)，並推出了自己的品牌。

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).

最早開始同時爲兩個品牌效力的設計師中也有一些響亮的名字：邁克爾·科爾斯(Michael Kors)在1997年到2004年同時是賽琳(Céline)的創意總監；納西索·羅德里格斯(Narciso Rodriguez)在1997年到2001 年之間爲羅意威效力，並同時擁有自己的品牌；湯姆·福特(Tom Ford)在2000年到2004年間同時掌管古馳和伊夫·聖羅蘭(Yves Saint Laurent)；還有加里亞諾和雅格布斯。但是他們都停止了這種身兼兩職的工作方式——現在只有卡爾·拉格菲爾德(Karl Lagerfeld)還在同時爲香奈兒和芬迪(Fendi)工作（並同時打理自己的品牌）。

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

新生代究竟是太年輕，不知天高地厚，還是時尚業正經歷着某種更爲本質的變化？

“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.”

“我認爲他們肯定是吸取了前人的教訓，”科爾斯說。他記起有一次在巴黎遇見王大仁。那時王剛發佈了他第一個巴黎世家系列。科爾斯對他說：“現在輪到你永遠都要在倒時差了。”

“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.”

“一開始的時候我的確很害怕，”王說。“當開雲集團最初跟我接觸時，我拒絕了他們。而當我開始認真考慮的時候，倒是沒有人說我瘋掉了，他們只是告訴我必須保護自己。我們從合作的最初階段就討論了開雲對我的期望，還不僅僅是他們對巴黎世家的今後走向的想法，而是諸如我的個人形象、媒體發佈等具體細節。比如說我不用每個月都要去中國，我也不用爲了接受一個採訪而在兩天之內往返歐洲。

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.)

王大仁七年的密友約瑟夫·奧圖扎拉(Joseph Altuzarra)是一位紐約設計師。他說在他這一代設計師中，他一點也不奇怪王成爲了同時掌管兩個品牌的第一人。（紐約潮店“開幕式”[Opening Ceremony]的兩位店主杭博託·里昂[Humberto Leon]和凱洛爾·林[Carol Lim]與高田賢三[Kenzo]的合作雖然常常被歸爲這一類，但是卻有所不同。撇開他們是兩個人不說，他們是在和Kenzo這個法國品牌合作後才把自己的品牌帶到了紐約時裝週上。而之前，他們的品牌只不過是潮流店“開幕式”銷售的衆多品牌之一。）

“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.”

“他的性格很適合同時肩挑兩職，” 奧圖扎拉說。“因爲他非常有效率。他善於接受冒險——一旦做出選擇，他就不會過多糾結 。”

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.

王大仁在舊金山長大。在帕森斯設計學院學習兩年後於2007年輟學創業。他的品牌成長到現在，包括男士服裝和一個男女系列都涵蓋的平價副牌——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.”

“關鍵是你必須要有很成熟的想法並能夠把它表現出來，” 帕森斯的時尚設計系主任西蒙·柯林斯(Simon Collins)說，“如果你給兩個品牌設計，只有一些雛形零散的想法然後再指望後期發展是行不通的。”

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

而科爾斯說：“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.”

王大仁推崇最後期限和要點式電子郵件。不論是在巴黎世家還是在自己的公司，每一次會議結束後，他都會發送備忘錄，重申做出的決定，或是尚待決定的事物——由誰、基於什麼因素、在何時之前必須搞定。羅德里格·巴贊(Rodrigo Bazan)是王大仁公司的首席執行官。他說王回覆他的電郵不會超過一天。開雲的首席執行官弗蘭索瓦-亨利·皮諾(François-Henri Pinault)說，王的日程提前一年就會被安排出來並且發送給同事們。

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.”

如果你瞭解王大仁的繁忙日程，那這一切都不難理解。一個下午王要完成的工作可能會包括“拍攝王的初秋造型目錄，給王的男裝試衣，還有一堆巴黎世家的事務需要批示，”王說。“我在不同的房間裏進進出出就像瘋了一樣。”

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，歐洲和美國生活方式的差異使這種忙碌的局面有所緩和：在八月意大利的工廠都休假的時候，王大仁就有時間專注自己的品牌；他在紐約的時裝秀比巴黎世家提早兩個半星期——這樣在自己品牌的發佈結束後，他緊接着就去歐洲，爲巴黎世家的發佈拍攝造型目錄和廣告。而他自已品牌的團隊可以利用這段時間開始初步設計將要在意大利生產的配飾，以便王回到紐約時審覈。

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).

巴贊說他們從一開始就非常在意把王大仁和巴黎世家的設計和公司團隊徹底分開，以防它們之間互相吞噬。唯一一位兩個團隊都分享的僱員是一位助理，陪同王在兩個品牌之間奔波。（他還另有一位助理，負責打理王和他的個人機構的事務。）

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.

作爲高級時裝品牌，巴黎世家以它創始人的純粹主義和它前任創意總監尼古拉·蓋斯奇埃爾(Nicolas Ghesquière)不斷突破前沿的想象力而聞名於世。時尚界最初猜測，王的加盟意味着巴黎世家會從它——引用蘇西·門克斯(Suzy Menkes)在《國際紐約時報》文章裏的話——“高高在上的神壇走下來”。但是皮諾卻說，他們最初正是被王的自有品牌和巴黎世家之間的差異所吸引。

“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.”

他說， “我們非常仔細地考量了這兩個品牌之間是否會相輔相成，亦或產生競爭。”他指出，開雲還認真考慮過別的設計師，但王是他們“第一人選。我們看到他的自有品牌跟巴黎世家在市場和創意個性上完全不同，所有不會有什麼問題”。

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.”

王大仁和過去身兼兩職的設計師們有一個關鍵的不同之處在於：後者的自有品牌和他們的兼職品牌之間大多在審美上有着顯而易見的紐帶相連。比如加利亞諾的自有品牌和迪奧經常難以分辨；而賽琳在科爾斯掌舵後很明顯體現了一種運動風格。就像品牌諮詢專家博克指出的，一般說來，“一個人的審美品位決定了他的喜好 。”

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，王大仁解釋說：“在看到巴黎世家過去的作品時，我產生了一些想法。能有這些想法連我自己都感到吃驚。我的同名品牌詮釋的是我自己、我的朋友們和我們的未來；並沒有什麼傳統讓我從中汲取靈感。而爲巴黎世家設計是完全不同的過程。”

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.

王爲巴黎世家設計的作品顯然更接地氣，並沒有像蓋斯奇埃爾那樣野心勃勃的創意。儘管如此，王的作品並不像他的評論者所擔心的那樣小家子氣。從上一季的絞花編織大衣，繭形的肩部有珠飾的編織上衣和與之搭配的剪裁利落的禮服西褲，可以很清楚地看出開雲交給王的任務——那就是給巴黎世家注入現代和青春的活力。

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.

評論家肯尼迪·弗雷澤(Kennedy Fraser)在她1981年出版《時尚心靈》(The Fashionable Mind)中指出，巴黎世家的創始人克里斯托瓦爾·巴朗斯加(Cristóbal Balenciaga)從來不是特別在意跟上時代潮流。但是時尚界的真理卻是：品牌如果不變革就會落後於潮流。

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.

別的不說，能夠近距離接觸巴黎世家工作室和工廠倒好像是拓展了王對自已品牌的設計理念。他在上一個發佈會展示的仿羊皮T恤，皮製的工裝褲和有着現代實用主義細節、60年代風格的超短裙 ，都明顯要比他之前的作品複雜精緻。

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，王大仁承認， 在他的兩個品牌之間負責聯絡的同事有時會私下裏對他說：“這個看上去很像你剛爲（王/巴黎世家)設計的那件作品。”稍作遲疑之後，王明白她說的是對的。

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.

王說事業工作上的職責與日俱增，他不得不改變一些生活方式。這位之前的派對男孩不再在工作日時出去尋歡。今年夏天他的唯一一次休假是去舊金山與家人度過了一週。

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

“當我看到別人在Instagram上貼出的暑假照片，我真是覺得有些惆悵”，他說。

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.

他還學會了獨處。他不會說法語，這在工作上倒沒什麼問題（幾乎所有人都會說英語），但是這意味着他不得不放棄租個公寓的想法。“萬一沒電了，我怎麼打電話求助？” 他說。

“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.”

“我在巴黎沒有社交，我沒有熟稔到能夠一起吃晚飯的朋友，”他說。“但是從某種角度說，這給了我一種平衡感。星期天我在這兒的時候，沒有人可以和我講電話，所有的地方又都關門。我就到處閒逛，這使得我能靜下心來思考。”

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.

至於他是否是同輩或是後來人的榜樣，王拒絕回答這個問題。從數字來看，身兼兩職的決定使得兩個品牌都得益匪淺。王大仁公司在過去三年裏以每年大約百分之二十的速度增長；2013年的營業額剛好超過了一億美元，全球分店的數量將在今年年底之前達到20個；在2015年，公司還將在倫敦開設該品牌在歐洲的第一家獨址商店，這也將是全球最大的一家分店。同時，皮諾說巴黎世家的零售增長率也達到了兩位數。

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.”

帕森斯設計學院的柯林斯說：“我們的學生都想成爲王大仁。一份工根本滿足不了他們，他們都想在某一時段同時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.

連奧圖扎拉都說他能夠想象同時爲不止一個品牌工作，如果有合適的機會，他會考慮嘗試。

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

博克說現在這種僱傭趨勢只不過是時尚業自然波動的體現。

“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.’ ”

“所有的事都是循環重複的，”他說。“在經濟蕭條時需要縮減預算，所以大家覺得設計師應該專注於做他最拿手的。後來大家又覺得這有點無趣，於是又開始尋找新鮮和刺激。但是，在王大仁這裏，如果兩個品牌中任何一個開始失去特色，人們立刻會說：‘看吧，設計師只能爲一個品牌設計。’”

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.”

巴黎世家的首席執行官伊莎貝爾·吉喬特(Isabelle Guichot)卻這麼說：“如今，不管是時尚界，還是音樂或是藝術領域，創意人才的履歷比之前有所不同。不同領域之間的劃分變得模糊起來，藝術家們想要通過不同的方式表現自己。歌手法瑞爾·威廉姆斯(Pharrell Williams)就是個很好的例子。”

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

皮諾說他同意這一觀點。他指出聖洛朗的創意總監艾迪·斯理曼(Hedi Slimane)同時也是個攝影家。

“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.”

“這些年輕的設計師可不只是早八點到晚八點之間纔有創意，”他說。“他們隨時都會有點子。我們應該盡我們所能容納幫助他們，而不是限制他們。”

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

連科爾斯也說他相信社交媒體帶來了變革。

“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.”

“這一代人沒有閒下來的時候，他們每時每刻都在忙碌，”他說。“這確實使他們能夠有更多的想法和創意。”但是，科爾斯也承認, “我們每個人都有侷限。”

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.

當然，就像雅可布和科爾斯一樣，王大仁有可能會達到一個臨界點。那時，他就會覺得要使自己的品牌真正名聲大噪，他要麼需要全身心投入，要麼需要另一種平衡。

“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.

“現在我既沒有孩子，也沒有狗，”王說。“沒準在未來我會想有更多的私人生活。或者我會想：‘我真是不想再去坐那班飛機了’。但是現在的工作方式要持續多久，我並沒有一個期限。當我想象停止巴黎世家的工作而回來專門做自己的品牌……”他搖了搖頭，停頓了一下。

“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.”

“我還真不知道該怎麼辦，”他說。“這就好像新工作喚醒了我大腦裏以前從沒有用過的一部分，難道能說不用就不用了嗎？這真是難以想象。”