A little light penetrates the shadow of McQueen’s gothic DNA in Paris

While Seán McGirr’s debut as Alexander McQueen’s director was held in an underground concrete court, in keeping with McQueen’s spirit of showing far from the Paris glitzy center, for his second collection, the Irish-born, London-based designer attended. for a sharp turn: a good technical school on the left-hand side of the capital.

Strings play as visitors enter the large, cavernous hall of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Anna Wintour looked happy as she chatted with Salma Hayek and her husband, François-Henri Pinault, CEO of luxury company Kering, which owns McQueen. The front row of the crowd included British fashion designer and socialite Daphne Guinness and American rapper Cardi B, who was covered in fur coats. Scuzzy was out, sheen was in.

But a gothic, magical version of DNA was written in large part in the museum’s selection, a collection led by a figure emerging from Irish mythology: the banshee, a female spirit whose cry, or “longing”, is said to foretell the death of a family. member. As McGirr famously explained after the show: “It’s a common thread that runs between me and McQueen.” He also liked the 1994 gothic group called, simply, Banshee, in which, curiously, a middle-aged model with a shaved head walked with a screaming voice. “I started by looking at his paintings from the exhibition we have in the museum,” said McGirr, whose warehouse he said was full of treasures, such as “unfinished toilets, scraps of cloth, half-beaten shoes”.

McGirr drew on banshee legends, which she “grew up with – stories my mother, my grandmother told me” – with washed and crumpled chiffon dresses worn on a smoky steel rail.

Silhouette has always been central to McQueen’s creations and sharp tailoring and exaggerated shoulders came in waves like fog at the front. There were gorgeous carpet-ready frocks with magical twists and lots of glitter and a final look that looked destined to end up on the Met Gala red carpet: a headpiece made from a net of sheer lace. It was McGirr’s self-imposed banshee that, he said, was the “guide” he dreamed of as a child and has been with him for the past six months. “That’s why it became important.” The palette revolved around silvery grey, ivory and jet black but had an eerie orange and yellow glow.

There was a detail of the collection of 1994. For example, the curved collars from the first collection, for example, were compact and looked like a lot of peaceful flowers.

The nest, a central element in the banshee’s mythology – it is said that if lost it will return to the house where it belongs and try to retrieve it – first appeared in the call for the show, drawn in spiked back by Gonzo-illustrator Ralph. Steadman. But also, explains McGirr, “he was immersed in the process of making real clothes. So everything is mixed by hand and cut and distorted in a poetic way.”

The second collection is a well-known fraud. Even though it was the first appearance, he met with various activities and companies. In many ways perhaps, the McQueen gig is difficult; taking the helm of an iconic brand with such a rich and intelligent heritage.

As McQueen said: “As soon as I leave my company, I will burn it down so that no one can work there.” This person is supposed to make ideas for my show, which is personal, how can that be? ” The importance of being of little origin is simple. McGirr is the first designer who did not know the founder – Sarah Burton, who was the director for 13 years, took the reins in 2010 after the death of McQueen and left. last year, he was McQueen’s proudest runner-up.

For those who were present at McQueen’s first shows – I think of the house as a color inspired by dirt, death and golden rain – the choice of location can be taken as a metaphor for where the brand seems to be going with McGirr. at the tip. As the 35-year-old designer told Vogue, he wants to “inject the light”. One would hope that a little glitz, glitz and glamour, would help make the record more accessible, appealing to a younger audience and, less difficult, commercial.