Alexander McQueen AW15

The manifesto:

‘Truth, Valour, Honour’ – more than throwaway slogans, today Sarah Burton gave us words to live by.

Guns & roses: 

This season was a tale of extremes: love and war, guns and roses and the severe and the romantic. Tailoring was executed with military precision, but thrown off balance with intricate floral embroidery. The flowers of choice? Daisies and poppies. It seemed appropriate. Just last year marked the centenary of the First World War and saw over five million people flock to the Tower of London to witness 888,246 red poppies on display, each one representing the life of one of our fallen heroes. But what really made Burton's message hit home today was the recent tragedies in Paris, a place so close to the heart of McQueen. 

The atmosphere:

Alberto Iglesias's “Polyakov” (which featured in the soundtrack to Thomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) echoed through today's show space, a disused warehouse in Lambeth filled with industrial storage blocks and an old fire engine. Audiences sat on all sides looking in a floodlit square, something that recalled the show spaces pioneered by Lee McQueen. The message was clear; it was all about pulling the gaze inwards, not just looking but really witnessing something.

The soundrack to Alexander McQueen AW15: