A House Divided
Review of McQueen Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Mackenzie Richard
From the moment Seán McGirr took the reins at Alexander McQueen, he faced an unenviable challenge—navigating the weight of one of fashion’s most sacred legacies while carving out a space for his own vision. His debut, widely critiqued for its lack of coherence and weak tailoring, left many questioning whether he could channel the razor-sharp precision and emotional intensity that defined McQueen’s past. His second outing showed some refinement—leaning into personal folklore and tightening the silhouettes—but it remained an incremental step rather than a breakthrough.
Fall 2025, then, was a pivotal moment: Would McGirr finally strike the balance between his own instincts and McQueen’s DNA, or would the collection confirm that his tenure remains an uneasy fit?
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Uncertain Evolution & Heritage Without Heat
McGirr’s vision for Fall 2025 appeared to be an exploration of dark romance, historical storytelling, and power dressing—an interplay of strength and fragility rendered in rich contrasts. Rigid leather and sharply tailored outerwear met the delicacy of cascading lace and fluid chiffon, creating a dialogue between protection and vulnerability. A quiet sense of mourning underscored the opening looks, where deep blacks and structured silhouettes set a solemn, almost ceremonial tone. Yet as the collection progressed, crimson hues and gilded embellishments signaled a shift—one that spoke less of grief and more of resilience, as if emerging from darkness into something bolder, more decadent.
A few distinct narratives unfolded:
A modern gothic fairytale – Lace veils, sweeping capes, and ethereal sheers conjured an atmosphere of spectral elegance, hinting at a ghostly regality.
Power through femininity – The collection leaned into contrast, where exaggerated ruffles and intricate lace coexisted with commanding tailoring, framing softness not as weakness, but as another kind of strength.
A historical remix – Victorian mourning dress, Baroque opulence, and 1980s power dressing were woven into a contemporary framework, nodding to the past without being beholden to it.
There was an undeniable sense of drama, but the question remained: Did it carry the emotional intensity McQueen is known for, or did it feel more like an aesthetic exercise?
While there were moments of striking beauty—sweeping capes, lace veils, and razor-sharp suiting—the collection never quite reached the visceral emotional heights McQueen is known for. It succeeded in surface-level theatrics but didn’t fully tap into the unsettling, deeply personal storytelling that made the house legendary.
The set—a mirrored, fractured space—hinted at a desire for reflection and distortion, an architectural nod to McQueen’s legacy of unsettling elegance. The clothes, however, wavered between reverence and departure. There were undeniably strong moments: exaggerated ruffled collars that recalled Elizabethan codes through a modern lens, sharp suiting that nodded to the house’s tailoring pedigree, and sensual sheer elements that hinted at McGirr’s understanding of contemporary femininity. Yet, in many ways, the collection felt caught between identities—part Valentino’s operatic romance, part Alessandro Michele’s maximalist Gucci, and only faintly McQueen.
For a house that has long thrived on provocation and raw emotion, the sleekness of this collection raised a crucial question: Was this an intentional evolution, or a dilution of the house’s essence? This season’s restraint raises an important question: Is McGirr refining McQueen’s legacy into something sharper and more modern, or is he sanding down its edges too much? The answer, for now, is both. The collection was more technically polished, but the brand’s legendary defiance and emotional charge were still only faintly present.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
McGirr’s latest collection wasn’t without its successes. He demonstrated a stronger grasp of structure, crafting pieces that felt more intentional than his debut. His engagement with historical references—seen in ruffled collars, corsetry elements, and exaggerated volumes—showed an awareness of the house’s heritage. Yet, these gestures felt more like a respectful nod than a bold reinterpretation. The result was a collection that had moments of beauty but lacked a clear, unifying argument.
There were improvements—sharper execution, stronger references—but whether McGirr has truly settled into the role remains uncertain. The collection felt more like an exploration than a definitive statement, as though he is still navigating how much of himself to imprint onto the house’s DNA.
More concerning, however, was the absence of true luxury. Following Sarah Burton, whose work maintained a level of refinement and craftsmanship intrinsic to McQueen’s prestige, this collection felt comparatively diluted. There is a difference between modernizing a brand for a younger audience and diminishing its value, and McGirr risks veering toward the latter.
For McGirr to truly succeed at McQueen, he must move beyond the aesthetic trappings of the archive and into its essence: the raw emotion, the defiance, the storytelling that made McQueen’s work more than just fashion. There is a fine line between honoring a legacy and being bound by it, and Fall 2025 walked that line without quite defining its own direction.
The challenge now is not just referencing McQueen’s codes but reinterpreting them with conviction—pushing them forward in a way that feels dangerous, relevant, and deeply personal. Because at its core, McQueen has never been about nostalgia. It has always been about fearlessness. And that is the one quality McGirr must fully embrace if he is to make this house his own.
