Feels more like treading water than breaking new ground

If thus far an overriding theme is yet to emerge from the London collections, it’s true to state that autumn/winter 2016 is a season of comebacks. First there was the return of Mulberry, absent from the London fashion week calendar since 2013, and then the homecoming of the Alexander McQueen label, after 15 years showing womenswear in Paris. 

No official reason was given, but designer Sarah Burton is heavily pregnant, which possibly forced the brand’s hand. Back in 2013, her first pregnancy resulted in a show of just 10 looks. This time, it was a full compliment of 42, but the show itself felt scaled-back, creatively. Burton’s motifs of vainglorious lipsticks and compact mirrors embroidered and woven into gauzy dresses felt familiar and safe. 

photo: vickydressy ballkleider

There was a surrealist bent, but deeper symbols of vanity were, ironically, subjugated by their superficial prettiness. Likewise, those observers who saw Burton’s pearl-edged clock-faces and perceived a sly wink at time ticking away – perhaps for Burton to depart McQueen, as rumoured, for Dior – were probably reading too much into a bit of embroidery. Night-time was another inspiration, evidenced directly in embroideries of starry skies and moons across chiffon evening capes and diaphanous dresses, and by the fact that this collection’s focus was resolutely after-dark.

Indeed, it’s tough to imagine many women wearing Burton’s McQueen during the day. Her coats and suits tend towards the grand, habitually fur-trimmed and bedecked, with dubious practical applications. There were a few this time, wide-cut and embellished with lips and lepidoptera, marred with the same sense of impracticality. That’s not always an issue, of course: plenty of women lead lives and bank cheques that allow for the impractical, if it’s attractive enough. 

More worrying is that these clothes don’t feel especially contemporary; they hung heavy, both physically and with effort. Contrast that with the dozen or so outstanding gossamer evening gowns, nudie-look stuff flecked with exquisite embroidered mythological animals, a pair in silver and gold draped with narrow capes and yet more glitter, and you knew where Burton’s heart was. 

There’s nothing wrong with that kind of focus, of course. Women would fight to wear these dresses, although whether there will be celebrity endorsement or paid-up customers is open to debate. As a chapter in McQueen’s history, though, this felt more like treading water than breaking new ground.

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