The Dublin-born designer, who has previously held positions at JW Anderson and Dries Van Noten, is the surprise successor to Sarah Burton
Just three days after Sarah Burton presented her emotional final collection for Alexander McQueen at Paris Fashion Week, the British house has named Seán McGirr as its new creative director. The relatively unknown Irish designer has an illustrious CV; after graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2014, McGirr started out assisting at Burberry and Vogue Hommes Japan, later holding various design positions at Uniqlo (under Christophe Lemaire), Dries Van Noten, and most recently, overseeing ready-to-wear at JW Anderson.
“We are delighted to welcome Seán McGirr as creative director,” said the brand’s CEO Gianfilippo Testa in a statement. “With his experience, personality, and creative energy, he will bring a powerful creative language to Alexander McQueen while building on its unique heritage.” Kering’s CEO François-Henri Pinault continued, “Alexander McQueen is a house we are passionate about, and we are confident that Seán McGirr will be able to pursue its journey with a new creative impetus. We look forward to opening this new chapter in the history of this unique brand.” McGirr’s hiring comes as part of a wider industry trend where conglomerates are tapping unknown designers from within companies instead of choosing more famous, already-established designers as successors. The well-worn game of fashion ’musical chairs’ seems to be falling out of favour, with brands hiring younger, more incognito talent – just think of the hiring of Sabato de Sarno, a former director of ready-to-wear at Valentino, to take over at Gucci, or Matthieu Blazy’s recent ascent from design director to creative director at Bottega Veneta.
Founded in 1992 by Lee Alexander McQueen, the eponymous brand became one of the most revered in modern history thanks to its darkly romantic, challenging designs (like the ‘bumster’ – cheeky, low-slung trousers designed to show off buttocks cleavage), and theatrical, boundary-pushing shows such as the A/W95 show Highland Rape – which McQueen said was “about England’s rape of Scotland” – and S/S99, where Shalom Harlow was ambushed by robots with black and green spray paint – a mesmerising feat of technology at that time.
Following McQueen’s death in 2010, Burton – the head of womenswear at the house since 1997 – took over as creative director, a position she held until 2023. “I am so proud of everything I’ve done and my incredible team at Alexander McQueen. They are my family, and this has been my home for the past 26 years,” she wrote in a statement released earlier this month. “Above all, I want to thank Lee Alexander McQueen. He taught me so much and I am eternally grateful to him. I am looking forward to the future and the next chapter and will always carry this treasured time with me.”