The Alexander McQueen Pre-SS21 Couture campaign is the embodiment of ‘make-do-and-men’. The pieces are sourced and created in kitchens and back gardens of the team at Alexander McQueen in conjunction with a professional in-studio team. The collection includes an array of garments – with prom style pleated dresses, a tuxedo-style jacket with a silk-wrapped bow and a feminine colour palette consisting of albion pinks contrasted with black.

All the creations were mocked up, and the sketches were gathered by the embroidery team then printed onto organza panels. Once the panels were completed, each member of the team took one home to work on each design.

A dress with an off-the-shoulder drape and a tiered skirt was hand-made with toile that was dip-dyed. The dress was then taken apart and then reassembled, the skirt had to be dipped upside-down in order to maintain the pink hem. Majority of the tests and experiments were conducted once again at home, and the final results were created by a professional team.

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The double-layered tuxedo jacket is inspired by oversized 1950s couture bow, re-imagined and interwoven into the jacket, using the same pink, black and white colour palette. An oyster ruffle dress with a high neck and a scalloped back, with an undulating pattern achieved by stitching row by row until the pattern indicated a change in circle size, achieving the degradé scale effect.

The final piece is a asymmetric floor-length dress with an exploded skirt volume in washed calico silk organza, embroidered with designs from a sketch book. The finale piece of the collection made by the Italian Alexander McQueen seamstresses in their kitchens. Sarah Burton and her team worked to feature sketches previously created before the pandemic.

To view the full campaign, visit AlexanderMcQueen.com