Alexander McQueen Men's Fall/Winter 2015

Ever since Sarah Burton took the reins at Alexander McQueen, opinions about her performance have been mixed. On the one hand, some people think that she's respecting the McQueen heritage while moving it forward and making it more accessible and on the other hand, others say she is desecrating and over-commercialising it instead. As per my observation, most people who are in the former camp are some editors and persons of the establishment, while those of the later camp seem to be the rest of the high fashion "masses".  From her latest men's collection for the brand, it is easy to see why such polarized opinions are the case.

The collection embodied the obvious dark nature that is often associated with McQueen but it fell short of the sensuality that is meant to accompany it. In a sense, it was nice, but it was enclosed in a bubble of commercialism and normality in some aspects. Certain things worked and others were tricky. For instance the jackets and coats with the satin inserts didn't seem to work well, especially when looked at from the front. They screamed BA graduate collection gimmick. I understand the idea, and could see part of it working when looked at from the back, but the execution fell short. At the same time, the pinstripe jackets with the texts looked stale and unnecessary. More interesting pieces came in the form of the slightly loose cropped trousers, the military style coats and jackets  adorned with star encrusted embroideries which are reminiscent of star badges of royal military orders. I am personally in love with the last two looks which featured white star embroideries. There was definitely something dapper but  dark and subdued about them. The shoes also looked quite interesting.

Despite the not-so-good things about this collection and her overall direction in general, credit has to be given for her consistency in giving the brand a more streamlined and identifiable image, no matter how mundane it may be for some. In this day and age when the priorities of the owners of fashion houses are profit, profit and more profit, such an approach is indeed necessary for the brand to survive and this collection will definitely provide some much needed revenue. The question now is if this approach can still make the McQueen brand relevant for those who are more interested in the creative aspects of fashion. An aspect which many designers seem too comfortable to over look these days.

OpxD


photos: style.com