McQueen Autumn/Winter 2025 was a vision of broken beauty

On Saturday night, Sean McGirr's third offering for the house of McQueen took place at The Galerie de Géologie et de Minéralogie in Paris. Guests were greeted by a harp player as they entered the building, who softly strummed a haunting melody which would set the tone for the show.

At the end of the runway was what appeared to be a smashed, glitching screen which flashed furiously to mark the start of the show. It was in fact a mirrored tunnel which models emerged from, creating a surreal and dystopian atmosphere.

McGirr was inspired by Oscar Wilde and the Charles Dickens book 'Night Walks', which describes the author's time as an insomniac walking the streets of London at night. “To me, dandyism is the ultimate act of adornment; deeply personal, playful and transgressive. It raises questions of character and identity, idealism and gender. I wanted to explore the enduring relevance of the dandy’s radical spirit in our modern world,” he said in the show notes.

The first look was a black dress coat with horned shoulders, worn with a lace high necked blouse underneath which partially obscured the model's face. This was followed by several black tailored looks, worn with exaggerated pointed toe ankle boots, bejewelled floral face masks and dangling egg shaped bags.

Lace tights were worn with buckled leather jackets and boots, balancing the dark and the light that the McQueen brand is renowned for. Sheer dresses had period-costume style high necks or ruffs, and after a sea of black looks came a wash of dramatic blood red. Flowing dresses were worn with dramatic fuzzy-fur cropped jackets, that gave the illusion of angel's wings as they walked.

There have been murmurs of the McQueen skull scarf making a comeback — it first made its debut for Spring/Summer 2003 and went onto become a Noughties staple accessory — and the print appeared tonight for Autumn/Winter 2025 on a green sheer shirt, and red scarf which trailed on the floor from a black leather holdall bag.

Mint green and pale lilac ruffled dresses were styled with backcombed, crimped hair, reminiscent of McQueen's infamous 1995 show 'Highland Rape'. The looks were completed with ultra-small Matrix style sunglasses and ultra-long fringed diamante earrings.

Wide-brim hats by Philip Treacy gave the collection a sinister edge. As the show progressed, more bejewelled face masks appeared, and the embellishment on gowns and garments became more and more prominent, paying homage to the show's venue. These were balanced with shearling and Ermine style coats, romantically ruffled blouses and plenty of leather.

This was a dark, twisted version of glamour as seen through McGirr's lens for the McQueen house. He is continuing to build on his vision for the brand while referencing it's rich history and it's founder's signature handwriting.