Alexander Wang is at it again. The designer, who won the much-coveted CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award last year, has taken the tile of Swiss Textile Award Winner of 2009. Last year the prize (which includes 100,000 euros) was granted to Rodarte; this year, Wang's competition included: Peter Pilotto, Erdem, Thakoon, Alexis Mabille, and Ohne Titel (a collectively lethal pool of talent). "To win this in Europe, against amazing European designers but also against designers like Thakoon and Ohne Titel who I have grown up beside, feels really special," Wang told Vogue UK.

"It's a family business -- we don't have any external backers -- and this will really help us take the business to the next level," Wang added. The statement brings up an interesting consideration -- despite wild growth and exponential expansion, Wang's brand has remained independent. This is in no doubt thanks to the deep pockets of his family backers, but it also ensures a sense of freedom in terms of Wang's design; e.g. he's not answering to a board of executives each time he decides to reinvent himself, nor complaining about an arguably exorbitant price point for his cycling shorts. There's no denying Wang's hard work and serious savvy regarding both design and marketing have produced something pretty sweet; and, he says, "winning the Swiss Textiles Award feels like the cherry on the cake."