Child designer Max Alexander heads to Tribeca after Paris Fashion Week debut

LOS ANGELES: At an age when many children are occupied with schoolwork and play, 10-year-old Max Alexander is building a fashion career that has already taken him from American runways to Paris Fashion Week and now to the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Alexander has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s youngest fashion runway designer. He first drew attention in the fashion world after creating garments for Denver Fashion Week when he was seven. In March, he went on to present a 15-look women’s collection at Paris Fashion Week at the Palais Garnier, one of the most prominent venues associated with the event.

This weekend, he is due to attend the premiere of a documentary about his life at the Tribeca Film Festival, adding another landmark to a career that began in early childhood. Alexander said he told his parents he wanted to become a dressmaker when he was four, although he could not pinpoint the exact reason behind his interest in fashion.

Speaking during an interview at his studio in his family home in Los Angeles, he described fashion as a field with limitless room for experimentation and invention. "You can use any fabric, any material. You can make a dress out of pickles. You can make a dress out of spoons. You can make a dress out of hangers. It's crazy," he said.

Sustainability also plays an important role in his work. The young designer often searches for unusual materials and draws ideas from ordinary objects around him. One of his designs, made from coffee bean sacks, was inspired by his mother’s fondness for coffee. He said the material was environmentally friendly because it would break down naturally over time.

"After 10 years, you can put them in the ground and they biodegrade. It helps our planet too," he added.

Alexander said his experience at Paris Fashion Week was exciting rather than overwhelming. He described walking down the runway to applause as an enjoyable moment and said he did not feel intimidated by the occasion. "It wasn't scary for me. I thought all these people appreciate me and I should be happy."

His label includes dresses, pyjamas, T-shirts and hoodies for men, women and children, which are sold through his online store. At the time of the interview, he was also working on an outfit for a visit to the Broadway musical Hamilton in New York.

He summed up his creative method with what he calls the dress cycle. "Think. Drape. Sew. Done. Voila!"

Despite his international profile, Alexander is still navigating ordinary school-age concerns. Having just finished fourth grade, he said one of the things bothering him about starting fifth grade is that recess will be shorter.

"It sounds harder. I think it's worse because we only have 10-minute recesses, but we used to have 25, which is kind of sad," he said.