Londontown: Sarah Burton Celebrates British Menswear Codes
Sarah Burton creative director for Alexander McQueen brought a British invasion to Paris Fashion Week. Burton declared her Fall 2018 collection an “exploration of British masculinity.” The traditional British wardrobe- tartans, pinstripe suits and oversized coats- were reinterpreted from different styles of the modern British man. “It was taking this very classic British wardrobe and subverting it, turning it on its head,” she explained. “It was almost like making each garment of the wardrobe very, very McQueen, so it wasn’t so much about a fantasy journey, it was more about something very grounded in reality.”
Savile Row fabrics were embellished with hand-painted English roses covering jackets and suits, while beading and woven jacquards accentuated black silk and wool fabrics. There were embroidered florals and paisley patterns that were intentionally left unfinished with long threads hanging down from a knit cream sweater and a camel coat.
There was a plethora of coats, everything from trench coats to pea coats, bomber jackets and parkas made for throwing on the layers. Cropped, slim, kick-flare trousers and ever trendy track pant stripes took the place of the cropped wide leg pants seen everywhere else as of lately. The models were further adorned with elegant Victorian style jewelry, like jeweled earrings dangling from one ear. Matching pendants were also prominent, as were chunky signet rings worn on more than one finger. A streetwear vibe was introduced when 80s oversized shoulders and cinched waists on smoking jackets elevated the look of a pair of joggers. Monochromatic black on black leather was effortlessly juxtaposed with to head to toe silky florals. Sarah Burton’s romantic meets streetwear mashup proved that these two menswear codes can still be cohesive.
See All the Looks from the Collection
