McGirr waves goodbye to Paris for now, McQueen to show at London Fashion Week for SS27

London Fashion Week may be a magnet for emerging talent but it also attracts some big names and it will have an extra one this September as McQueen has announced that it will return to LFW for its SS27 show.

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The McQueen runway event will happen on September 20 and will be Seán McGirr’s first show in London as creative director of the house.

The Alexander McQueen label was originally a London stalwart with its hugely theatrical shows being a must-see each season. But the label started showing at the much larger Paris Fashion Week a quarter of a century ago. It has stayed there ever since, despite a number of one-off London events, the last of which was in 2022 under Sarah Burton’s creative control.

So what’s the thinking this time? McGirr said: “London has always been at the heart of McQueen; there’s a uniquely visceral energy to the city that runs throughout the house’s history and continues to inspire everything we do today. Returning to London Fashion Week allows us to deeply engage with that spirit and the creative community that defines both London and this house.”

And the company’s CEO Gianfranco D’Attis added that “bringing McQueen back to London Fashion Week is a meaningful moment for the house. London is where our story began and remains central to our identity. We are proud to reaffirm our commitment to the British Fashion Council and to the city’s extraordinary creative ecosystem, while continuing to build on McQueen’s heritage and shape its future.”

That reference to the BFC is key as the body is working hard behind the scenes to attract major names to the city’s big fashion event. BFC chief Laura Weir said it had been one of her earliest ambitions as CEO to get the label to “return home to London Fashion Week. Few have shaped the global fashion landscape with the same force, imagination and cultural impact, and now is the time to welcome the brand back to its London roots. McQueen’s return is a statement of confidence in British creativity at its most fearless and distinctive. We are proud to welcome the house back to the official schedule and look forward to building an ambitious and meaningful partnership across the seasons ahead”.