Sarah Burton and team Alexander McQueen did like so many other designers this year and created collections, seemingly, out of nothing. Without the opportunity to travel, and with mills and manufacturers shut or working at limited capacity, the options were limited — and the creativity flowed.
For spring Burton’s solution was to make a men’s collection from old stock, overprinting or overdyeing fabrics, with the odd pearly embellishment here and there.
Tailoring was fierce, and even feminine at times, with nipped waists on suit jackets; wide, dramatic skirts blooming from black-tie jackets; slim trousers cinched with big, sculptural obi belts, and regal pearl brooches dotted onto curvy, shapely coats.
Color popped everywhere, with two-tone suits so dense they looked as if they’d been dipped into a barrel of raspberry dye, while hand-drawn blue roses, birds and butterflies floated over a long, flowing morning coat and matching trousers.
Blue-drenched photographic prints exploded across a blue suit and shirt, while cricket sweaters looked as if they were formed from splodges of red, white and blue paint.