You don’t need to catch the next Grand Central to experience the beauty of the English North. Instead, you can indulge in its spirit through the lens of Alexander McQueen and their AW20 menswear collection. Sarah Burton’s latest outing continues to find inspirations in the rough landscapes of the North and the works of the late Yorkshire-born artist Henry Moore. As the interactive influence between her women’s and men’s collections heightens, the line between the two becomes thinner than ever. Dominant military codes and classic tailoring are encrusted with decorative textile elements, such as the painterly prints, heavy crystal embroideries and shiny silks.
In fact, it’s the textiles that play the starring role in the collection. Sturdy wools and Donegal tweeds in dark hues are inspired by rocks, minerals and charcoal. The statement black leather coat is finished in a technique of garment beetling, which requires the fabric being pounded by wooden beams for over four hours by William Clark, the last remaining practitioner of this century-old technique in Ireland. Other traditional forms have a new life thanks to being printed with engineered artwork of Henry Moore’s drawings in vivid hues. Finding concrete in the abstract, the Alexander McQueen AW20 collection is a dream rooted in reality, and it’s one we don’t wan’t to be woken up from.
