Skip to main content
BoF Logo

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.

McQueen’s Sartorial Spirit

Sarah Burton stuck to her guns, delivering a wonderfully sharp and precise outing that was spot on.
Alexander McQueen Autumn/Winter 2020 menswear | @alexandermcqueen Instagram
By
  • Angelo Flaccavento

MILAN, Italy — Sarah Burton is a consistent designer. She sticks to her guns, immune to fickle trends and passing fads. tailoring — of the sharp, frighteningly thin, obsessively precise, elegantly militaristic variety — has always been her main preoccupation at Alexander McQueen, even when the fashion winds were blowing in other directions. Now the wind is blowing towards her and Burton's stress on the sartorial feels spot on.

Unlike newly converted formalists, Burton is not forcing tailoring in any new, ostensibly modern direction, mixing it with sportswear and similar stuff. She’s going, instead, for the archly formal - minus the neckties - adding an army/punky slant in the form of cap-toed derbies, harnesses and an assortment of earrings. That’s it. Modernity in the eye of the beholder.

This season’s main focus was a collaboration with the Henry Moore Foundation, which resulted in drawings from the artist’s estate reproduced as allover prints on suits. Thistles splashed onto narrow coats reasserted the naturalistic streak which is another Burton mainstay, together with artfully panelled suiting. It made for a wonderfully precise outing, even though the thinness of it all was quite striking. The only problem with being so consistent is that it risks feeling a bit formulaic. Even Burton needs the occasional rupture.

In This Article

© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions

More from Fashion Week
Independent show reviews from fashion’s top critics.

What I Learned From Fashion Month

From where aspirational customers are spending to Kering’s challenges and Richemont’s fashion revival, BoF’s editor-in-chief shares key takeaways from conversations with industry insiders in London, Milan and Paris.


view more

Subscribe to the BoF Daily Digest

The essential daily round-up of fashion news, analysis, and breaking news alerts.

The Business of Fashion

Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
CONNECT WITH US ON
BoF Professional - How to Turn Data Into Meaningful Customer Connections
© 2024 The Business of Fashion. All rights reserved. For more information read our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy and Accessibility Statement.
BoF Professional - How to Turn Data Into Meaningful Customer Connections