King of cool Alexander Wang ditched the bright lights and glitzy skyscrapers of New York on Saturday to stage his latest fashion show against a backdrop of crumbling decay in a disused Harlem theater.

Celebrity guests Kylie Jenner, rapper Tyga, Zoe Kravitz and ASAP Rocky were among those whisked to the RKO Hamilton Theater - miles from the ritzy downtown haunts favored by the style glitterati during fashion week.

The former cinema, in what is now a gentrifying neighborhood, has been through previous incarnations as a church, an arena, a disco and retail space, perhaps exemplifying the rise and fall of urban communities hard hit by the collapse of manufacturing across America.