Burn the place down

“If I ever leave my company, I’d just just burn the place down, so no one could work there.”?

Ever the provocateur, this is what the late, great Lee McQueen had to say about the continuity of his McQueen without him in an interview for Fashion Television in 2006. “That person would have to come up with the concepts for my shows, which are so personal, how can that be? Unless it turns into a runway of nonexistent-ness.”

Hotly anticipated, few debut collections have sparked discussion quite like Sean McGirr’s debut. In preview interviews, both Sean and Gianfilippo Testa, McQueen’s CEO, talked up the need to provoke a reaction. Well, they did that. The attached screenshot is my gut reaction to the nostalgic collage of ideas and fresher perspectives that formed a discordant collection. Days later, I still stand by it. But I have additional thoughts (and questions) that extend far beyond McQueen.

But firstly, McQueen. Sean McGirr, already faced with an almost impossible task to inject himself into a beloved brand, was?in a lose-lose predicament. Criticism would have followed whichever creative course he decided upon. During a preview with Tim Blanks for BoF, Sean seemed to be anticipating as much when he quoted Lee’s own response to criticism: “I’d rather people hated what I do than not give a shit about it.” Well, people gave a shit!

Of course I’m well familiar with the references to the chaotic creativity of Lee McQueen’s early work, particularly SS95 (entitled The Birds, Lee’s fifth collection), and while I can see why Sean longed to recapture some of that effervescence and reimagine it for today, is that what the Kering-owned brand actually represents today? It’s certainly not what Kering encouraged Lee’s in-house successor and custodian of craft, Sarah Burton, to create during her tenure with the pressure of continued growth. Let’s see if the suits stand by their words in the coming worlds. Will they afford Sean the time to hone his craft, as Lee himself was able to do during the early 90s??

For me, craft is the word. My biggest criticism of the debut collection is the naivety of the execution. While harsh, I compare it to a graduate collection and I have to question the studio team beyond its 35-year-old creative director; did the pattern cutters and seamstresses leave with Sarah Burton?

But as the discourse rumbles on, there's a significant part of me that feels for Sean McGirr because wider frustrations with the state of fashion (industry) have amplified the social ire that's enveloped the beginnings of his tenure. Let’s not forget his appointment sparked fury, when there have been quite a few similar appointments that didn't receive anywhere near as much attention. His debut has provoked a similar reaction. Of course, there's sentiment involved and a great deal of nostalgia for the damaged genius that was Lee McQueen and the perceived ill-treatment of Sarah Burton but I've come to the realisation that it's bigger than McQueen. Bigger than the similar debates that follow the countless other brands that design long after the original innovators have left the studio (Helmut Lang, Moschino, Westwood etc) and the growing fear of what might follow the departure of many more creative forces nearing retirement (Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto…).?

Should a brand's fate be tied to its founder? While each brand has its own unique set of circumstances, I feel that more brands should end when their founder departs than carry on but that’s not good business, is it? There's so much uncertainty, but one thing is guaranteed, the "x will be turning in their grave" discourse will continue to thrive in the comments.?

For me, the frustrated discourse goes to the heart of the dichotomy of fashion now; the inherent (and growing) tensions between the art of fashion versus the business of fashion.?

And it goes back to this longing (sometimes imagined or at least projected) of what fashion used to be, before it became a huge billion dollar, growth chasing behemoth of an industry built by contradictions.?

From commentators to consumers and, even creative directors themselves, there's growing frustration/confusion/discomfort over what fashion is today.

Rather than continually resuscitate the ghosts of yesterday, I long for an industry to empower tomorrow's creativity. Is it time we metaphorically burn the place down, in order to cultivate new life from its embers?