The Alexander McQueen show will return to London Fashion Week this season, for the first time since decamping to Paris in 2001, when it was acquired by the then-Gucci Group (now a part of Kering). The house’s homecoming has many expecting a revisiting of some of the British motifs Lee McQueen often peppered into his dramatic and deeply personal collectsions.
Sure, Britishisms from Savile Row tailoring to a love of Renaissance and medieval styling run through all Alexander McQueen collectsions, but there were certain collectsions where the influence was stronger than usual. The most prominent—and controversial—example of McQueen mining the Isles for inspiration was his Fall 1995 Highland Rape collectsion, which McQueen told Time Out in 1997 was “a shout against English designers . . . doing flamboyant Scottish clothes. My father’s family originates from the Isle of Skye, and I’d studied the history of the Scottish upheavals and the Clearances. People were so unintelligent they thought this was about women being raped—yet Highland Rape was about England’s rape of Scotland.”
Since then, both McQueen and Sarah Burton have drawn on British heritage to inspire and influence their collectsions in a variety of ways. See seven highs here, and check Replica Handbag Store Runway later today to see the house’s latest collectsion.
Watch the Alexander McQueen Fall 2016 Ready-to-Wear show: