Alexander McQueen presented the most-anticipated show of Paris Fashion Week this season since it marks Creative Director Sarah Burton's first collection for the brand.
Burton warned that she wouldn't indulge in the kind of theatrics Lee McQueen is known for like bird headpieces and armadillo heels. "That was very much Lee's territory - the spectacular show," Burton told WWD. "I can't try and pretend to be Lee." Still, her initial offering was creative and dramatic enough to please the late designer who took his own life in February.
Skirts constructed from hair, dresses with feathered flourishes, gowns with digital prints, tops with sheer floral embroidery that erupt in voluminous skirts and jackets adorned with butterflies fluttering up the neckline made their way down the runway, which itself was constructed of wood planks with grass poking through.
Inspired by nature, which was a recurrent theme in Alexander McQueen's past collections, Burton's line was as artful, intricate and awe-inspiring as you'd expect from the Fashion house.
There was one element missing, however: the darkness that permeated McQueen's collections up to his death, starting perhaps with the Spring 2008 collection he designed for his late mentor, Isabella Blow. Burton remarked that by contrast, she is lighter and more feminine in her designs, characteristics that materialized in her choice of color (white and gold) and silhouette (fluid and romantic skirts).
As for beauty, the models' hair resembled basket-weaving in a complicated style that separates into two braids. The hair summed up what the collection represented to me; from far away, it looks romantic and soft but up close, you see the intricacy and creative vision is still there.
I think Lee McQueen would be proud; what do you think of Sarah Burton's first collection for Alexander McQueen?
Kisses,
Coutura