After initially postponing its London Fashion Week show due to the passing of the Queen, Alexander McQueen presented its SS/23 collection at the rescheduled London Fashion Week event. For SS/23 creative director Sarah Burton, the collection is inspired by the search for humanity.
With a total of 41 looks – and staged inside a giant bubble – Sarah Burton’s creations range from subtle to statement, with the addition of accessories and bold colours. Clothing featured a microscopic vs macroscopic view of the Earth through the renaissance paintings of Hieronymus Bosch.
The search for humanity
Despite the bubble metaphor, the collection is anything but isolating. Rather Burton aimed to find a kind of human consciousness and connectivity. “This collection is about searching for humanity and human connection. The eye is a symbol of humanity, a register of emotion, an expression of uniqueness,” she said. “Our clothes are designed to empower. They are stripped back, dissected, and focused on cut, drape, and silhouette.”
The collection
Dresses featured butterfly shapes crafted from engineered eye print poly-faille, armour suits created from eye print viscose cady. The second-skin black mesh bodysuit featured an eye embroidered in satin, complete with sequins and crystals. Shoes came in the form of naked sandals with transparent Plexi and black leather uppers, sitting atop a solid pin heel. Ankle platform boots in leather and thigh-high platform boots in leather were embroidered with slash detailing. Burton also brought back the bumster that featured heavily between the 1990s and 2000s.
Accessories
For SS/23 Burton has released ear cuffs and rings in polished silver metal and black resin. Bags came in the form of the Slash Bag, crafted from leather and featuring a metal chain shoulder strap and Skull Four-Ring closure. The collection was shown inside the very same bubble that McQueen used last October atop a 10-storey parking garage. Burton wanted to be in a completely reusable space, which can be stored and reused.
