Into the Woods: McQ Alexander McQueen Debuts in London
Sarah Burton can’t do things by halves. Just when
London expects her to put on a routine, serviceable presentation for the
McQ Alexander McQueen collection, as a mere teaser for the opening of
its Dover Street store in the spring, she goes mega with a whole runway
show and a theatrical performance. Maybe she didn’t want to let London
down, or the name of Alexander McQueen in the city he was born. But
whatever her motivations were, Burton treated the McQ audience to the
full runway experience—a space covered in dried leaves, and a dramatic
ending that had Kristen McMenamy wandering into a faux winter-wood to a lonely hut, which then blasted into life with music and flashing lights.
Oh, and there were excellent clothes for women and men, too. The collection majored on a classic McQueen silhouette, the nipped-waist, full-skirted outline transposed onto military coats and jackets and dresses in khaki cloth or embossed leather. The fashion interest kicked up another notch when Burton began using Black Watch tartan as a bustier kilt-dress over a velvet embroidered body, and still another when she introduced burgundy devoré velvet in a leaf-pattern on evening coats and extravagantly huge, petticoated skirts. For the finale, flower-embroidered tutu dresses rounded out a collection that had an unexpected level of luxe about it.
“It feels great to be back showing in London. Fabulous!” laughed a calm and relaxed Burton backstage, while being congratulated by buyers from Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus and a throng of press. “I didn’t want it to feel like a second line, but there are more practical, everyday things in here for the McQ woman to wear, and to mix with clothes she’ll buy from the main line.” Ultimately, it was a show which McQueen himself might have approved of. The last time he showed in London, before leaving for Paris, it felt as though London was headed toward terminal decline as a fashion city. But now? The return—even if it’s a one-off event—is part of a citywide fashion renaissance which has creativity, surprise, and brilliantly sellable clothes coming from all directions.
Oh, and there were excellent clothes for women and men, too. The collection majored on a classic McQueen silhouette, the nipped-waist, full-skirted outline transposed onto military coats and jackets and dresses in khaki cloth or embossed leather. The fashion interest kicked up another notch when Burton began using Black Watch tartan as a bustier kilt-dress over a velvet embroidered body, and still another when she introduced burgundy devoré velvet in a leaf-pattern on evening coats and extravagantly huge, petticoated skirts. For the finale, flower-embroidered tutu dresses rounded out a collection that had an unexpected level of luxe about it.
“It feels great to be back showing in London. Fabulous!” laughed a calm and relaxed Burton backstage, while being congratulated by buyers from Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus and a throng of press. “I didn’t want it to feel like a second line, but there are more practical, everyday things in here for the McQ woman to wear, and to mix with clothes she’ll buy from the main line.” Ultimately, it was a show which McQueen himself might have approved of. The last time he showed in London, before leaving for Paris, it felt as though London was headed toward terminal decline as a fashion city. But now? The return—even if it’s a one-off event—is part of a citywide fashion renaissance which has creativity, surprise, and brilliantly sellable clothes coming from all directions.
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