Alexander McQueen Moves Forward

Goodbye Mr. McQueen, hello Ms. Burton. Long live McQueen.

Style.com covered the passing of Alexander McQueen and the showing of the final collection he designed, but something that was equally important this year was the success of Sarah Burtonâ€s first show as the new designer for the McQueen label. The passing of such a genius creative mind was indeed tragic, and the showing of McQueenâ€s last collection was a special moment, but Burtonâ€s signal that the brand can honor McQueenâ€s legacy while moving forward was absolutely stellar.

John Gallianoâ€s Dior Couture Wows

Dior haute couture was in full bloom this year when John Galliano showed his Spring 2011 collection of flower-inspired looks. The imagery and execution of the designs combined with the high, tulip-like hair of the models for a full package display of gorgeousness and perhaps our favorite moment in fashion of 2010.

McQ has a new creative director in Pina Ferlisi, and with the regime change will come collection changes, including more accessories, an increasingly casual feel and 25 percent lower prices.

Looks like it's going to take at least at 30% price reduction for her to get excited about the new McQ

“We always felt there was scope to create a brand that was more accessible — and a little more edgy,” President and CEO Jonathan Akeroyd said. “Weâ€ve got a strong ambition for it.” {Fashionologie}

Weâ€re not quite sure how a brand becomes at once more accessible and edgier, since we generally perceive edgy to mean bold, daring or more difficult to pull off as a style, but the 25 percent discount is a huge plus.

In keeping with the fashion advertising trend du jour, McQ will debut a film that features models wearing the preview clothes this week in lieu of a look book.

As far as the sneak peak clothes go, weâ€re not all that impressed, actually. (Pause for a huge gasp in response to us having anything negative to say about anything McQueen). The looks are bland and a bit too dark. We understand dark looks are signature to McQueen, but something about the new McQ line is too emo teenager/Wednesday Addams, falling short of the fantastical edginess weâ€re used to from McQueen. Hopefully the full collection will be more impressive in a few months. What do you think of the McQ fall 2011 preview?

“McQ will become our responsibility alongside the core Alexander McQueen label, allowing us to share ideas and knowledge, expand the business and grow the already iconic brand,” President and CEO of Alexander McQueen Jonathan Akeroyd told WWD. “Over the past five years, McQ has established itself internationally with its young, renegade but always signature McQueen style and we are ready to take it to the next stage in its development.”

Speaking of development at Alexander McQueen, the label is enjoying wild success of late, as the highly anticipated first womenswear collection by newly appointed creative director Sarah Burton debuted with astounding praise from critics in Paris this month. Burton replaced Lee Alexander McQueen at the helm following his death earlier this year.

The general consensus among critics is that Burtonâ€s first collection was the perfect balance of respecting McQueenâ€s vision and adding personal, more feminine touches to advance the brand.

Hilary Alexander at the Telegraph said the collection included “elaborately-beautiful pieces which maintained the spirit of McQueen’s legacy, whilst injecting a new atmosphere of ethereal bohemian romance,” while Cathy Horyn at The New York Times said, “some references to the McQueen craft and drama are necessarily, but her choices reflected a gradual transition.”

At left, the closing look from Sarah Burton's first solo collection at Alexander Mc Queen. At right, designer Sarah Burton

Booth Moore at the Los Angeles Times noted that Burtonâ€s collection seemed more wearable than the typical McQueen line. He credited that to her status as a woman, saying the clothes, “didn’t have the tortured genius of the namesake designer … But the clothes may have been better for it.” He added that even though much of Burtonâ€s collection was typical McQueen, “Burton banished McQueen’s famously restrictive neckpieces, headdresses and hobbling shoes with a woman’s touch.”

What do you think of the collection? Perfect balance of McQueen and Burton, or would you have liked to see something else?

The prospect of continuing a label after a visionary founder unexpectedly leaves the company however, is not unprecedented. Consider parallels to the cases of Christian Dior and more recently Gianni Versace.

Christian Dior, 10 years into his career as head designer for his label, suffered a fatal heart attack at 52. Yves Saint-Laurent, then only 21-years-old, presented his first collection for the house a year later in 1958. At that time, Dior’s label was such a significant part of the French fashion industry that shuttering it wasn’t seen as an option.

In recent days when comparisons between Dior and McQueen have been drawn, many are quick to point out that while McQueen is celebrated for his artistic vision and immense creativity, the line is only recently profitable. And not even profitable enough to split sales figures out from other labels in the Gucci Group portfolio at that. While McQueen may be suitably positioned to claim the “genius” term often ascribed to him and Dior, McQueen’s label at this point is not a financially crucial part of parent company PPR.

But a more recent case offers more hope. When Gianni Versace was murdered in Miami in 1997, he was 19 years into his namesake label, but had seen a large part of his success with celebrities and significant media attention in the 10 years before his death.

The company’s recent history hasn’t been entirely smooth: job cuts and a lower priced line have been announced {Bloomberg} as the company struggles to return to profitability among economic conditions that have seen labels like Escada pushed to the brink of collapse. While the next few years will require smart business decisions, Versace as a label has managed to thrive for more than a decade after the unexpected death of Gianni. Reviews of Donatella Versace’s first collections were mixed, but she has grown into a respected creative force, and helped to maintain hundreds of millions of dollars of sales annually.

While the news may seem sudden for some, considering how recent McQueen’s death is, the question now is who will be McQueen’s Saint-Laurent.

But that was only the beginning. The late Lee Alexander McQueen will have a place in fashion history not only for his tailoring and thought provoking designs, but likely as one of the people who shoved fashion communication forward as well. His final Paris show, broadcast live on SHOWstudio with multiple cameras, dazzling lights and clothing that would stand out in any stage production, firmly eschewed the thought that showmanship in fashion is only for a select few. While some are grappling with ways of bringing the professional trade show element of fashion week back to the forefront, if this season’s New York fashion week is any indication, we’re only seeing the beginning of fashion as entertainment for all. Proenza Schouler, who broadcast their show at 8pm tonight, are making it an even more business savvy move {Fashionologie} by selling runway bags for 24 hours after the show. This follows in the footsteps of a live broadcast, immediate sales strategy successfully employed by Burberry {Wall Street Journal}.

Alexander Wang F/W 2010 Show, Broadcast on SHOWstudio

In the past 5 days, we’ve seen the live broadcast of shows from Michael Angel, Lacoste, Alexander Wang, Men’s Calvin Klein collection, Perry Ellis, Marc Jacobs, Rodarte and G-Star. Today, Michael Kors and William Rast join the list. Tomorrow’s streams start with Marc Bouwer and Isaac Mizraahi, and conclude with Women’s Calvin Klein collection stream.

While SHOWstudio, the site which broadcast McQueen’s last show, is a pioneer in the medium of broadcasting live fashion events online, the other favorites are decidedly mass. Robert Duffy, Marc Jacobs’ CEO, tweeted live before and during the show as people tuned in online. Lacoste and Calvin Klein didn’t just broadcast on their websites, but prominently on their Facebook pages as well. Noticeably absent, is YouTube, which would seem to be an obvious choice.

Why Facebook? For Calvin Klein, “using Facebook as the platform for the live stream is appealing because of the real-time social chat functionality that isn’t possible on video-focused sites. We also think that Calvin Klein’s Facebook page offers current, relevant content, and allows our fans to engage and share it with their friends, so it makes sense to direct them there.”

And therein lies the real shift in communication. While some brands are still noticeably absent from the conversations taking place online, the walls surrounding direct communication are slowly coming down at the highest levels.

It remains to be seen if the live internet show trend continues, grows or wanes, but the trepidation surrounding being an active participant in social media seems to be outweighed by the prospect that exclusivity will result in a missed opportunity to connect with customers.

Malcolm Carfrae, Executive Vice-President of Communications for Calvin Klein, says “We continue to explore new opportunities to expand the reach of our brands and create more touch-points for our consumers to interact directly with our brands and our creative directors. We think that this is a great opportunity for us to share our collections with a larger audience. Italo and Francisco are both very excited to have so many more people experience their shows in real time.”

Live Streamed Fashion Shows

Today

William Rast in association with Sony, 7pm EST Click here to view {WilliamRast.com}

Proenza Schouler, 8pm EST Click here to view {ProenzSchouler.com}

Tomorrow

Marc Bouwer, 9am EST Click here to view {MarcBouwer.com}

Isaac Mizraahi, 12pm EST Click here to view {IsaacMizraahi.com}

Women’s Calvin Klein collection, 3pm EST Click here to view {CalvinKlein.com} also on Facebook {Calvin Klein page}

Sadly, McQueen’s suicide is not the first to shake the fashion world. Model Daul Kim took her own life in November, and Isabella Blow, who famously purchased McQueen’s entire graduate collection, also died as a result of suicide in 2007.

Thoughts from some of McQueen’s peers:

“We are devastated to learn of the death of Alexander McQueen, one of the greatest talents of his generation. He brought a uniquely British sense of daring and aesthetic fearlessness to the global stage of fashion. In such a short career, Alexander McQueen’s influence was astonishing—from street style, to music culture and the world’s museums. His passing marks an insurmountable loss.”

– Anna Wintour, Vogue

“I am truly devastated to lose my close friend. His talent had no boundaries and he was an inspiration to everyone who worked with him and knew him. This is a sad day to all who loved him around the world and my condolences are with his family. I will miss him so much, he will never be forgotten.”

– Naomi Campbell

“I found his work very interesting and never banal. There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanized. Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you.”

– Karl Lagerfeld

via eOnline