McQueen Spring 2027: Seán McGirr’s final collection

On 15 October, Alexander McQueen announced that Seán McGirr would leave his role as creative director. His Spring 2027 show, staged in London less than a month earlier, is now his last collection for the house. There is no need to turn every look into a farewell message. The clothes themselves offer a more useful way back into the show.

A jacket that refuses to sit still

The opening ivory suit begins with a familiar proposition: a sharp jacket over wide trousers. But the shoulder rises and folds away from the neck, and the short jacket exposes the gleam of the shirt beneath. A belt draws a hard line across the hips. The result is tailored, certainly, though hardly settled. Its proportions shift as the model walks.

A later grey jacket takes the waist in tightly before pushing outward at the hip. The patterned blouse is buttoned high; below it, blue-and-white ruffles interrupt the sober jacket. Each element has a clear shape, yet they do not resolve into a conventional suit. McGirr keeps the language of tailoring and changes the parts around it.

The body comes back into view

Elsewhere, a black lace bodice is fitted close to the torso above a large, glossy skirt. The contrast is immediate: one half traces the body, the other holds its own volume. A pale, almost transparent top with broadened shoulders makes a different proposition, letting seams and skin register through the fabric. The white cut-out dress goes further, using narrow bands across the chest and waist to make the space between them part of the design.

The show took place in the undercroft of Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, but these are clothes that do not depend on the setting to make their point. Again and again, a precise edge gives way to something open, exposed or exaggerated. As the house prepares for another change of creative direction, that conversation between control and release is what remains most legible in McGirr’s final collection.