BEAUTY: Clothing--Alexander McQueen

I am a little disappointed that McQueen seems to have abandoned runway shows for the men's collections in favor of static lookbook photos. But for this FW '20-'21 collection, it seemed like old times. Sarah Burton's inspiration for this hearty, chewy collection was The North...a fictitious trip through Hertfordshire to visit the Studios and Gardens of artist and sculptor Henry Moore, and up to the Scottish Highlands.

Of course Burton played on the heritage tailoring and uniform silhouettes that McQueen loved but I am delighted to see that she brought back another McQueen favorite motif, the skull. It shows up on artist overalls printed with hand-drawn skulls and embroidered with silver and gold bullion thread. There's also a gorgeous, oversized wool and mohair sweater with skulls dripping extra lengths of yarn. The artist overalls segue into the Hertfordshire leg of the tour where Henry Moore had his studios. Burton worked with the Henry Moore Foundation to reproduce sections of brushstrokes from Moore's Three-Quarter Figure (1928), laying them on a wool-silk suit (exquisitely cut, naturally) and a topcoat. The subtle earthy red and mineral yellow in the Moore piece show up in some motorcycle gear. And we reach the northernmost part of our journey with pieces adorned with hand embroidered Scottish Thistles, and a sweater emblazoned with a stylized Saltire (the Scottish Flag). Finally, we wrap up with some amazing pieces that feature molten metal shapes in the form of bejeweled vests with iris silver bullion embroidery, the same vest piece attached to a coat, and a suit and topcoat combination with enlarged molten ore swirls, all referencing Moore's Modernist sculptures and the fluid shapes from the Art Nouveau Movement. All in all, a very special collection.

Three Quarter Figure (1928) by Henry Moore

Henry Moore

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