Sean McGirr For Alexander McQueen, and other stuff
This Week In Fashion
Another petite week. I’m pulling shit to write like teeth. On the other hand, it’s given me time to write some additional newsletters that should be done by the end of this week! Y’all, I do really love to talk about fashion, someone please start paying me to do so.
Sean McGirr has been announced as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen.
If you have no clue who Sean is, that’s fine, I didn’t really either. However, most recently, he was head of menswear at JW Anderson for three years (slay), starting in 2020. He was also a womenswear designer for Dries Van Noten (slay), and from 2014 to 2018 he worked in Uniqlo’s creative offices in Tokyo and Paris, working on menswear collections under Christophe Lemaire (slay). He also started his career assisting at Burberry and at Vogue Homme Japan, and is a graduate of Central Saint Martins.
So, there’s a few things to touch on.
For one, while I think it’s interesting that they put a menswear designer at the helm of the brand, I also look at his resume and think, wow, those are very good things to have on your resume, I like those things! I think you can want for him to do a good job and understand how much pressure this is, and realize that he is filling, not only the big shoes of Lee McQueen but also Sarah Burton, while also being unfortunately aware of the fact that every single creative director under Kering is a white man. Every single womenswear brand owned by Kering is being designed by a man. In 2023, when we say that inclusivity is so important, I want to remind you all that it is nothing more than a marketing tactic.
There are the people talking about how great Sean is and how we need to give him a chance— I don’t disagree! I’m sure he’s talented, I want to see him succeed. I don’t know the man personally, and I’m not aware of his work specifically, but the same compliments can be said about a number of other people. People who are women. People who are not white. Grace Wales Bonner is also really talented and lovely. Christopher John Rogers is also really talented and lovely. Dilara Findikoglu is also really talented and lovely.
Multiple things can be true. I enjoy the work of a lot of the men creative directing brands under Kering, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think a lot more women and people of color should be holding those positions.
While these brands keep talking about change and feminism and equality, just remember that they don’t actually mean it.
Look, I know that I’m the first person to talk about how scary Kim Jones’ Fendi is, but I was excited for this one. The last couture and ready-to-wear collections were finally moving in the right direction, and knowing that my king Stefano Pilati was guest designing this collection, I had high hopes, and rightfully so! If you don’t know, Stefano was head of design at Saint Laurent from 2004-2012, after which he went to Zegna to be the head of couture, while also heading their woman apparel brand in 2015. Now he runs his independent label, Random Identity, using his work there to explore ideas of gender identity and queer culture— something that was seen expressed in this collection as well. When talking about the collection, Stefano said, “The fascination to link fashion to history and vice versa was inspired by the most progressive eras of the last century, the 20s and the 60s. The rise in gender conversations manifested in the clothes and the elegant, forward change of custom habits.” You can think back to the flappers of the 1920s, and how they were seen as a threat to masculinity, and connect the blending of masculine and feminine in this collection. The drop-waist, a 1920s silhouette, was also explored by inserting a strip of fabric at the waistband of bottoms that matched the fabric of the tops, elongating the waist. At the same time, it also touches on the more recent boxers peaking out of pants trend. Some jackets had a more rectangular shaping to the lapels, that were brilliantly cut, directly from the collar. I also loved a double layered waistband on a pair of brown trousers, making it look like a peplum. As for the 1960s references, I mainly felt those come through in the mod styles of outerwear and minis. A-line dresses and skirts were lovely, and nods to Fendi being a fur house, through things like a more casual shearling sweater, were nice to see. Stefano also re-drew the Fendi logo to create some printed and embossed pieces. While I’m not a logo mania fanatic, I think the embossed version was a nice, subtle way to do a logo. There was a gorgeous pink dress with a drop-waist and the most scrumptiously voluminous sleeves. Same goes for a black dress with a draped open back and some peak-a-boo embroidery. The menswear mainly featured the same jacket and pants styled in different ways, which might feel pointless to some, but I think it’s a smart way to showcase a brands clothing and how it can become a part of your wardrobe. Overall, Stefano’s attention to detail, and his couture level work is always something I love to see.
- ‘We Need More Female Fashion Designers’ by Rachel Tashjian— self explanatory required reading.
- I want a Prada space suit!!!
- A Naomi Campbell exhibit is opening at the V&A on June 22, 2024— FUN!
- Zendaya attended the Louis Vuitton Spring 2024 show and looked like a dream. Sure, it’s one of her simpler looks, but I think it makes sense in the context of this collection, and also features a lot of Nicolas-isms that make me think of his work at Balenciaga. It fits her well and I love that the zipper runs down the entire front of the dress. The hardware of the straps feels like a nod to Louis Vuitton being a luggage and accessories brand while, again, feeling very Nicolas. Let’s be real, Zendaya can sell you on anything.
She also wore this fun pull that was seen on Naomi Campbell in a campaign for Louis Vuitton SS2004. That’s right, Marc Jacobs era LV— a dream.
Finally we saw her in a look from Resort 2015, also a fun time! I hope everyone that was worried about her becoming a LV ambassador is resting peacefully. Y’all better not disrespect by father Nicolas ever again.
Finally, she gave us fresh off the runway Balmain Spring 2024. I really loved the fusion of 80s and 50s styles in this collection, which I think is nicely seen in this little romper. There were also a lot of floral motifs in this collection, usually in sculpted styles, and these are cute! They were actually made from recycled plastic bottles.
- No, because I wanna fight. Why do y’all keep giving this STAR such dull looks. First of all, this is Dolce & Gabbana, but problematic brand aside, this is so poorly made. It’s incredibly too long on her, and since the fabric has nowhere to go when it hits the floor, it bunches up at the waist and ruins the lines of the embroidery. The bust area also seems to lack any structure, and you can quite literally see the inside of the cup because it’s folding back. If we wanted to be dripping in crystals and snatched to the gods, why couldn’t we get her in custom Wiederhoeft?! I KNOW she’d have the pull.
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- Boring. Also, why scarf and necklace?
- SJP wore a tulle skirt to the NYC Ballet Gala, which is not groundbreaking at all, but she did wear two different shoes, which is a nod to Carrie Bradshaw, and I love.
- Young Mazino wore Prada. I was giggling and kicking my feet until I saw his shoes. There is no reason I should ever see a man’s ankles when he is wearing a pair of loafers. I don’t care how fine you are.
So that was this week! It’s past my bedtime.
TTYL!!!
xx