Alexander McQueen creative director Seán McGirr.Photo: Pierre-Ange Carlotti
Alexander McQueen will return to London Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2027, the brand announced today, returning to its roots for the first time under creative director Seán McGirr, who was appointed in 2024. The show will take place on September 20.
“London has always been at the heart of McQueen; there’s a uniquely visceral energy to the city that runs throughout the house’s history and continues to inspire everything we do today,” McGirr says. “Returning to London Fashion Week allows us to deeply engage with that spirit and the creative community that defines both London and this house.”
McQueen hasn’t shown in London since Sarah Burton’s Spring/Summer 2023 Show, “First Sight” at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The brand also showed in London the year prior, for Spring/Summer 2022, on an East London rooftop, inside a bubble dome.
Of course, the British fashion capital is central to the brand history. Launched by Lee Alexander McQueen in 1993, London played host to some of the designer’s most revered shows, including his early collections Highland Rape (Fall/Winter 1995) The Birds (SS95) and Golden Shower (SS98). His Gatliff Road Warehouse era from 1998–2001 (No. 13, Eshu, Voss, What a Merry-Go-Round) is often considered McQueen’s most influential London period. McQueen then moved his shows to Paris in 2001, following investment from Gucci Group.
“Bringing McQueen back to London Fashion Week is a meaningful moment for the house. London is where our story began and remains central to our identity,” McQueen CEO Gianfranco D’Attis, who was appointed to the role on June 3, said in a statement. “We are proud to reaffirm our commitment to the British Fashion Council and to the city’s extraordinary creative ecosystem, while continuing to build on McQueen’s heritage and shape its future.”
The brand’s return is a major coup for London Fashion Week, which has seen many of its most influential British houses decamp to Paris – including McQueen, Stella McCartney and Victoria Beckham – leaving a schedule anchored by Burberry and Erdem, alongside scores of smaller emerging brands.
“One of my earliest ambitions as CEO of the British Fashion Council has been to see Alexander McQueen return home to London Fashion Week,” says British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir. “Few have shaped the global fashion landscape with the same force, imagination and cultural impact, and now is the time to welcome the brand back to its London roots. McQueen’s return is a statement of confidence in British creativity at its most fearless and distinctive. We are proud to welcome the house back to the official schedule and look forward to building an ambitious and meaningful partnership across the seasons ahead.”
The Kering-owned brand is undergoing a restructuring led by group CEO Luca de Meo, including job cuts and the appointment of D’Attis. The details of the upcoming show remain under wraps, but an impactful London show would be a key moment for McGirr to make a splash, outside of the saturated Paris schedule.
This article was originally published on Vogue.com.
