11 looks we love from Alexander McQueen spring/summer 2021
17 December 2020
For Alexander McQueen's spring/summer 2021 collection, Sarah Burton enlists the directional eye of acclaimed filmmaker Jonathan Glazer to unveil an unsettling but lingering fashion film
As we contemplate the state of the fashion show, Sarah Burton seems to have her sights set on the moving image. Following a documentary on Alexander McQueen’s new store design, the British label continues its foray into film for spring/summer 2021—this time lensed by acclaimed BAFTA-nominated director, Jonathan Glazer.
Glazer’s reel includes the likes of sci-fi masterpiece, Under The Skin (2013) starring Scarlett Johansson, and moody drama film, Birth (2004) starring Nicole Kidman. For Alexander McQueen, though, he takes a decidedly less narrative route—focusing more on constructing a landscape where the clothes perform just as much as the models. Set against River Thames, Glazer paints London as a dystopian, grimy backdrop to the McQueen universe: stolen kisses (and wallet) under a bridge, unsettling ambience noise, and devastatingly well-dressed youths.
In step with Lee Alexander McQueen’s legacy, tailoring takes precedence in this collection with spliced and diced blazers and biker jackets. Emerging as a Burton signature, though, was her go-to technique of screen-printing scans on the garments themselves. As Burton aptly summarises in her collection notes, “shape, silhouette and volume, the beauty of the bare bones of clothing stripped back to its essence—a world charged with emotion and human connection.”
Watch the film in full below.
