Finding the Tension in Transcendence
Review of McQueen Spring 2027 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
Returning to the city that birthed the brand in 1992 was a significant coup for the British Fashion Council and London’s fashion week . And while it was seen as a homecoming celebration of the city and its subversive energy, a moment needs to be taken to acknowledge that the city itself has significantly changed since those scrappy days of the 1990s.
Tension has been replaced with digital naval-gazing and a sense of entitlement when it comes to fashion criticism. And the sub-cultures that drove the creativity of the past are slowly being driven out by the rising costs of making a living as a designer, artist, or musician. The question that still hangs in the air; where will all the creative-types go for source material, and to inspire their collections, when the rough edges, and even rougher neighbourhoods (that once made this city so great), have been smoothed over for good?
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
The I love about London is its rave culture, I wanted to being these two worlds together – neo-classicism and rave culture.”
Seán McGirr, Creative Director, McQueen
London in 2026 is no longer considered a hub that houses that raw, urgency to make it, by whatever means necessary. Where fashion school kids would re-purpose thrifted finds in the hope of making it past the discerning door person at the Blitz nightclub in the 1980s. Young designers are not raging against the machine or fishing through the off-cuts behind their local fabric store. Now, remnants from luxury fashion houses can be acquired directly through initiatives such as Nonna Source.
There was tension, and even a sense of desperation, at the end of every month when you had to work out how you would pay your rent. This was the time out of which the career of Lee McQueen began. A career that was so influential (as much as it was controversial) that he, alongside John Galliano, and the likes of Martin Margiela have cast a long shadow on the industry and the education of its students. Becoming one of the most referential and mood-boarded influences for this generation, and the one who came before it.
It is why, Seàn McGirr establishing his voice and making his mark in this era of McQueen still feels like an uphill battle. With each design that graces his runway picked apart in a game of who did it better. With the brands new CEO Gianfranco D’Attis in place, a sharpening of the output will be taking place in the next year, or two that will regain control of areas where it experienced over-exposure – such as the sneakers category. Yet, D’Attis may have a task on his hands to give McGirr the time he needs to set the brand on the right path and ignore the noise from outside influences that gets louder with each season that passes.
You have to consider that the brand that once presented a collection called ‘Highland Rape’ needs friction, aggression, and an attitude that is a bit anti-establishment, backed up by seriously good craftsmanship. Yet, the industry is still holding onto an image of what once was, and until it learns to let go – and find new heroes – we will never allow for another Lee McQueen to be unearthed.
This designer is slowly approaching double digits, in terms of his outings for the brand, and his 9th was a meeting between heaven and earth, reflecting the “synergy between the sacred and the subcultural.” This is how we came to witness the birth of something new in the McQueen camp (from transferring to London fashion week, and a sense of self-assurance that came from the designer as he was speaking backstage). Inspired (divinely?) by a portrait hanging in the National Gallery by Piero della Francecsa, depicting the ‘Baptism of Christ.’ On viewing this painting and using it as a starting point McGirr said “This painting represents this idea of transcendence and serenity. These were two words that I couldn’t’ out of my mind when I was creating the collection.”
Tailoring that was created with fabrics sourced from Huntsman of Savile Row became protective blazers whose rounded sleeves were cut to mimic angels wings so the wearer could “feel shrouded and protected in the jacket.” His eveningwear, that was to be worn to a “rave in South London,” as opposed to the gala where it will more than likely be debuted, missed a trick. As the subversiveness the designer wanted to channel could have been communicated in the styling of his gowns to reflect just that scenario. Dirty sneakers and a denim jacket thrown over the bubble-hem strapless gown, perhaps? The “dynamic edge” that McGirr felt through the clothes when fitting them, would have then translated to the runway and subsequently the streets of London.
McGirr, speaking to his finale looks and the silver leaves he used as embellishment, designed to reflect a party-goer “leaving the rave and being caught in a storm” was reminiscent of his debut and the grittier setting of the former railway hub at 23 Rue Nationale in Paris. A setting that may be the key to unlocking the designers vision for the brand. As McQueen in its early stages was about juxtaposing grit and glamour – shows staged in car parks with cars aflame, for instance – and in order to land the idea of the subversiveness that used to run through the veins of this city, if the brand should return next season, something a little more underground and little less polished may allow McQueen to finally find its tension.
THE WRAP UP
London has inextricably changed, gone are the majority of the clubs that created new sounds and sub-cultures, the artists who used to inhabit run-down warehouses in central parts of the city have been forced out, and fashion schools struggle to enrol and support working-class students.
This is a city that still needs McQueen, but it needs to reconcile its past with its present and lean into “The opportunity in the shadows” as today’s notes perfectly describes it.
