7 of the Alexander McQueen Brand’s Most British Motifs Inline
Photo: Condé Nast Archive1/7Fall 1996
Lee McQueen’s Fall 1996 collection riffed on ideas always present in his work, like structure and unexpected materials, but this Victorian-inspired number paid direct homage to the styles of his homeland.
Photo: Shoot Digital for Style.com2/7Spring 2003
Amid the slinky black dresses and rainbow-hued gowns of McQueen’s Spring 2003 collection were cropped Elizabethan doublet jackets and the occasional ruff.
Photo: Marcio Madeira3/7Fall 2006
McQueen’s Fall 2006 collection included references to his earlier Highland Rape collection in the form of the rampant use of tartan. Here, it was rendered more elegant, worn over Victorian crinolines or cut into a Savile Row–worthy suit.
Photo: Marcio Madeira4/7Spring 2007
Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon was McQueen’s jumping-off point for his Spring 2007 showing. Kubrick’s cinematic Brits inspired the collection’s Edwardian notes and seductive undertones.
Photo: Marcio Madeira5/7Fall 2008
Fall 2008 may rival the Highland Rape collection for the title of McQueen’s most British collection ever. Touching on the country’s Indian imperialist era, Queen Victoria, and the Duke of Wellington, McQueen’s collection was rife with references to all things English.
