Alexander McQueen Fall / Winter 2017

PARIS — Whatever ways the winds are blowing these days outside the orbit of Sarah Burton’s Alexander McQueen are about as important to its internal workings as using anemometer on the surface of the moon is to producing any meaningful observations. The long and short of it is that substance matters, gimmicks be damned. The winds will continue to blow this way and that, but at the root of Sarah Burton’s body of work is something far more elemental. This much was true Monday evening at Jardin du Luxembourg for the Alexander McQueen Fall / Winter 2017 runway show featuring a half dozen models from across the Next global network including Selena Forrest, Lineisy Montero, Gray Sorrenti, Piper Carlson, Marina Perez, and Nimue Smit featured. At the heart of the collection, then was a material connection forged through the thousands of hours of paintstaking hand stitching to the pagan landscapes and creative communities of Cornwall. The “Cloutie” trees within these Cornish communities are said to have been an inspiration for Burton, who used the colorful ribbons and intimate treasures tied to the branches to represent dreams and hope as a point of departure. These were manifest in the collection through various lacing and dangling yarn, which would not so much blow in the wind as they would sway forth into a dreamworld all of Sarah Burton’s making. Credits include: Client, Alexander McQueen; Collection, Women’s Ready-To-Wear Fall / Winter 2017; Clothing design, Sarah Burton; Styling