Exciting news! Seán McGirr now takes the creative helm at Alexander McQueen, Kering, the parent company of Alexander McQueen, announced on Tuesday in a press release. McGirr thus steps into the shoes of Sarah Burton, who left the company in September after 26 years.
In his most recent role, McGirr led the menswear department at JW Anderson and later added womenswear to his responsibilities. The new creative director also worked for Dries Van Noten as a designer for the womenswear segment. From 2014 to 2018, he was part of Uniqlo’s creative team in Tokyo and Paris, focusing on menswear collections.
“We enthusiastically welcome McGirr as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen. With his experience, personality, and creative energy, we are confident that he will bring a fresh perspective to his designs while further building on the brand’s heritage,” said Gianfilippo Testa, CEO of Alexander McQueen, in the press release.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering, added: “Alexander McQueen is a fashion house we are passionate about, and we are confident that McGirr will continue the journey with a new creative impulse.”
Seán McGirr succeeds Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen
McGirr thus follows in Burton’s footsteps. Burton led the creative direction at Alexander McQueen for 13 years. She joined the company as an intern in 1996 when the brand was only four years old, but the aesthetic that would forever be associated with the name McQueen had already taken shape. After graduating, she returned and officially became head of womenswear design from 2000 onwards.
Since the death of Alexander McQueen in 2010, Burton has been the creative director of his eponymous brand, which has been part of the Kering Group since 2001. Under Burton, the McQueen brand softened slightly and became less provocative than under Lee McQueen, but she continued the legacy of the designer’s uncompromising tailoring with striking silhouettes. Over the past thirteen years, Burton has managed to step out of McQueen’s formidable shadow without ever forgetting his work.
Image source: Kering