The luxury fashion house eponymously named Alexander McQueen was founded by designer Alexander McQueen in 1992.
The British fashion designer trained as a tailor on London’s famous Saville Row at Anderson & Sheppard, worked as a pattern cutter joining Gieves & Hawkes and his strong portfolio won him a place on a masters fashion design course at Central Saint Martins.
Lee presented his first collection at London fashion week in March 1992.
In it’s early days, the house was known for controversy and Lee McQueen’s reputation preceded him. A prominent theme in his early work were bumsters, which were nothing if not divisive.
In 1996 Lee McQueen won his first British designer of the year award, a feat he went on to repeat a further three times. In 1996 he also succeeded fellow CSM alumni John Galliano at Givenchy, but Lee had a strained relationship from the moment his appointment was announced.
When his contract was up in 2001 he left the house, citing “Givenchy had begun to constrain his creativity”.
With the inclusion of his MA graduate collection, Lee McQueen designed 36 collections for his fashion house. A deal with Kering, then known as the Gucci group in 2000 was signed, the group acquired a 50% stake in McQueen’s label.
This deal allowed him to not only remain as the houses creative director but to also grow the brand, expanding the product mix to include perfume, trainers and a menswear line, expansion also included opening new stores in London, New York and Milan.
Notable collections
The Horn of Plenty — Autumn/Winter 2009
Highland Rape — Autumn/Winter 1995
The Birds — Spring/Summer 1995
Joan — Autumn/Winter 1998
№13 — Spring/Summer 1999
On the morning of February 11th 2010 Alexander McQueen was found dead by his housekeeper, nine days after the death of his mother. With his use of innovation and technology, he was credited for bringing drama and extravagance to the runway.
His memorial was held on 20 September 2010 at St. Paul’s cathedral and was attended by 2,500 invited guests, including Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Lady Gaga, Anna Wintour, closed friend Björk and Stella McCartney.
I want this to be a company that lives way beyond me, and I believe that customers are more important to making that happen than press. When I’m dead hopefully this house will still be going.
In May 2010, Sarah Burton, Lee McQueen’s long-time assistant was named as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen and in September 2010 she presented her first womenswear collection in Paris. Burton designed the wedding dress worn by Kate Middleton during her wedding to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge on Friday 29 April 2011 and at the British fashion awards on 28 November 2011, she won the Designer of the Year.
After 26 years with the fashion house, in September 2023, Sarah Burton announced that she would be stepping down from the label. In October 2023, the name of her replacement was made public, Seàn McGirr would become the house of McQueen’s third creative director.
When the announcement was made, Gianfilippo Testa, the label’s new CEO, said: “He will bring a powerful creative language to [McQueen].” To do so, he’ll inject his millennial point of view. “For me, it has to have a youthful energy. I think it should be about London, this mix of youth culture that I see all the time here. I want that to be represented.” Also, “It has to provoke a reaction; that’s the DNA of the brand.
Seàn McGirr moved to London at 17, also graduated from CSM in 2014, he then moved to Tokyo where under Christophe Lemaire he worked on Uniqlo men’s.
He spent some time with Dries Van Noten in Antwerp before moving back to London and joining JW Anderson as head of menswear. On the 2nd March 2024 on the outskirts of Paris, he debuted his first collection to a wave of negative feedback on social media.
Alexander McQueen
FALL 2024 FASHION SHOW
Critical takes ranged from the collection having a lack of cohesion, too many references in one collection, the collection looking like MCQ (now discontinued)and JW Anderson.
The looks on the catwalk seeming more commercial than Sarah Burton’s work, incoherent, cheap, and resembling a Zara collection and lack of a concept.Many fashion critics are calling for the Irish designer to show what he’s capable of September with his second collection, but there are those that are hoping he does not hold a position with the brand any further than here and now.
Whatever McQueen’s parent company decides to do in the coming months, this latest collection has people talking.