Seán McGirr - Designer, Creative Director of Alexander McQueen

[vogue28]

 

[Phuel]

Oh that’s unfortunate. So unless this person is withholding his true aesthetic, out goes impeccably tailored bespoke timelessness for adults, and in comes Dr Zeus children’s clownwear for the 15sec attention span of TikTok.

 

[FashionFanatico]

all i can say is: good luck.

and:

is it just me or is there a slight resemblance with the young Lee. With some facial hair? I dunno. Maybe i,m just tired.LOL

 

[Olaffo]

f*ck me - that was quick ! Complete shock, I’ve never heard of him neither about his input, aesthetic etc. I was hoping that for such fashion house they will actually bring someone who was at least studio director level etc. Regardless, there is a benefit of the doubt so I wish him all the best and hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised but he better bring it on otherwise we will have LDsS travesty 2.0

 

[Marc10]

Wow that was fast... I guess Sarah's departure was in the works for a while. I do like that Kering seems to go for the unknown but behind the scenes experienced designers compared to LVMH always chasing the stars.

JW Anderson and Dries are great credentials. Although I loved Sarah's tenure, I hope he brings some of that grittiness and sex appeal from the 90s back to the label, while still maintaining the great tailoring and craftsmanship

 

[perhydrol]

I must say, I'm extremely disappointed they didn't promote someone from the company. Let's see how he's going to understand McQueen, but it somehow makes me terrified.

 

[LadyJunon]

Uniqlo? JWA? We're absolutely f*cked!

Let's pray the Dries Van Noten influences wins out.

 

[FashionFanatico]

From Uniqlo to Dries and JW Anderson in 9 years to a rare top position in the business.
Boy, that went fast. Let's hope he will surprise us in a good way with his remarkable determination.

 

[Scotty]

Another twink? Good luck.

 

[susseinmcswanny]

I can't stop giggling about how the majority of the complaints about this on social media are that he's white lmfao

 

[gallianostan]

revolting. i've been a client of this remarkable house for a few years now. not anymore. this is the final straw.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I would really like to understand what is going on in the heads of CEOs thinking that all these people recently hired at Gucci, Demeulemeester or now McQueen qualifies them to replace much more seasoned designers...

 

[gallianostan]

I would really like to understand what is going on in the heads of CEOs thinking that all these people recently hired at Gucci, Demeulemeester or now McQueen qualifies this young generation to replace much more seasoned designers...

cheaper. more pliable. certainly more commerical. most importantly, though, far more likely to overwork themselves and keep their mouths shut.

 

[tricotineacetat]

cheaper. more pliable. certainly more commerical. most importantly, though, far more likely to overwork themselves and keep their mouths shut.

The question remains whether or not these young designers actually manage to create not only desirable product but a 360* vision for a house that can fuel the sort of growth expected of them. If anything at all, McQueen lacked the 'image making' component that made Lee McQueen famous.

For those reasons, I would have understood if somebody like Gareth Pugh, who is still relatively young, would have made a comeback at McQueen. Although his 'moment' has passed, he has the chops to nail a point of view from which you can derive product. His collaborations with Nick Knight and Ruth Hogben were visually arresting, similarly to McQueen's - Plus, he has supporters like Daphne Guinness who love his designs.

 

[lhhbl]

I don't think being a much more seasoned designer necessarily means that you're more capable of doing the job. Maybe it means that you're capable of being a great designer but not a great creative director. He was hired to be a CD.

We've been having many bad examples from younger people coming in and doing sh*t in historical houses but let's not forget that many of these houses were founded by young talents that had the support from the industry even if they were not seasoned. And we also have many examples of more seasoned designers doing a bad job as CDs (Hello, Chanel!).

That being said: never heard of him but he better watch out because he has an extremely hard job filled with great responsibility ahead of him. His credentials on Dries womenswear might benefit him and on JW menswear accessories might enable him with hints of creativity.

And yes, it'll very much probably be more commercial as the house struggles to scale and I'd prefer another person like Haider, maybe. But I'm curious to see his work and what he has in mind. Hopefully he'll bring exciting shows back with great impeccable clothes!

 

[Thefrenchy]

Surprising. Best of luck.

Let's not be Negative Nancies and wait for his first collection.

 

[Nimsay]

Dries JW and Uniqlo are fundamentally opposite to McQ codes.

im worried. He seems better for Jil Sander

 

[gallianostan]

If anything at all, McQueen lacked the 'image making' component that made Lee McQueen famous.

if you're referring to the house under sarah's stewardship, i might agree. but i think the house had a fairly coherent and unique identity while lee was in control. it's always been about hard-edged, gothic romance.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I don't think being a much more seasoned designer necessarily means that you're more capable of doing the job. Maybe it means that you're capable of being a great designer but not a great creative director. He was hired to be a CD.

We've been having many bad examples from younger people coming in and doing sh*t in historical houses but let's not forget that many of these houses were founded by young talents that had the support from the industry even if they were not seasoned. And we also have many examples of more seasoned designers doing a bad job as CDs (Hello, Chanel!).

That being said: never heard of him but he better watch out because he has an extremely hard job filled with great responsibility ahead of him. His credentials on Dries womenswear might benefit him and on JW menswear accessories might enable him with hints of creativity.

And yes, it'll very much probably be more commercial as the house struggles to scale and I'd prefer another person like Haider, maybe. But I'm curious to see his work and what he has in mind. Hopefully he'll bring exciting shows back with great impeccable clothes!

I think we can just leave it there that Lee McQueen's talent and vision were exceptional and despite the fact he started out young, the urgency of his point of view together with his background cutting his teeth on Saville Row and later at Givenchy really gave his later collections the technical flawlessness.

This younger generation didn't even go through the tough mentorship of a Louise Wilson at CSM, they learned to do researches by the textbook and do illustrator sketches. That's not how you lead a house with a background so deeply rooted in a modern couture approach.

 

[Lola701]

I don’t know…
I don’t have any real opinion about this…
I loved Lee’s real clothes. I remember those very fitted silhouettes, sharp shoulders but still very wearable even if they had tha image of Avant-Garde because of the extreme presentation.

This new designer’s background can be surprising but I don’t know. Dries is about construction and prints. JWA is about experimentation and Uniqlo/Lemaire about commerce…

I’m curious. And his job will be about interpretation of the legacy of Lee and Sarah.