McQueen House Stuns With First Runway Show Since Designer's Death (PHOTOS)
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Scroll down for pictures of the collection.
On Tuesday, Alexander McQueen's fashion house showed its first womenswear runway collection since the designer's death in February. Creative Director Sarah Burton presented a series of stunning dresses and matching footwear donned by plait-haired models. They all marched to Michael Jackson's "I'll Be There" for the finale.
Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, told the Guardian after the show that Burton had "taken away the angst and drama of the McQueen woman. All she had to do tonight was to say 'I'm here, this is my woman' and I thought she did that perfectly."
Burton remarked to the Guardian, "It's not just me, I have an amazing team."
From Jenny Barchfield of the Associated Press:
In the months that followed Alexander McQueen's suicide in February, the fashion world was abuzz with speculation about the future of the house. How could McQueen's successor, his longtime right-hand woman Sarah Burton, possibly take forward a house so fundamentally built on the extraordinary creative vision of its founder?Burton's brilliant debut Tuesday at the helm of the label put any rumors about the house's future to rest. Her spring-summer 2011 ready-to-wear collection was a tour-de-force that channeled McQueen's darkly surreal style, remodeling his signature elements into strange and beautiful confections that managed to be at the same time new and reassuringly familiar.
It was all there: Tailed pantsuits in mesmerizing jacquard, sculptural sheath dresses entirely made from monarch butterflies, or feathers that gleamed darkly like spilled oil or woven chaffs of wheat that appeared to be one with the models' woven hairstyles.
The audience of fashion elite burst into whoops of approval and frantic applause for Burton, who spent years as McQueen's deputy and deeply understood the troubled designer and his work.
Burton's brilliant debut was undoubtedly among the strongest shows of Paris fashion week.
Take a look at McQueen Spring/Summer 2011.
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First Posted: 10/05/10 06:43 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 06:55 PM ET