His second show, staged at the École des Beaux-Arts, was “more cohesive and more commercially viable,” Vogue Runway and Vogue Business global director Nicole Phelps wrote.
His SS27 collection, presented in the undercroft of Lincoln’s Inn Chapel in London beneath the Gothic ceiling, embraced darkness through closed-over shoulders built to resemble furled angel wings, classic gowns with anarchic enhancements and twin-peaked hairstyles.
McGirr stated on Thursday: “My vision for Alexander McQueen was grounded in the interplay between raw, visceral, human beauty and the precision and rigor at the heart of the house. I am incredibly proud of the progressive energy we cultivated as a team, anchoring our creativity in contemporary culture, and seeing it resonate with the most forthright, expressive figures across art, music, cinema, and more.”
The news of his departure comes as McQueen underwent a restructuring earlier this year that involved job cuts and executive changes. D’Attis became CEO on June 3.
At Kering Capital Markets Day that took place in Florence on April 16, De Meo spoke about a go-forward strategy for McQueen that includes 50% fewer stores by the end of 2026 (compared with the end of 2025) and rightsizing all functions.
“ One of the problems of Kering was that we were treating all the brands the same way, independently of the nature of the brand itself,” de Meo told reporters at the group’s Capital Markets Day. “You take a brand like McQueen, which is by nature a very niche, edgy, avant-garde [house]. And then you start opening shops and doing accessible products. This is not McQueen. I need to go back to the source of McQueen, which is occasion wear, tailoring, gowns, some funky accessories, etc.”
He added that it is about finding the right structure to enable McQueen to sustain a more limited business scope by leveraging synergies with the group. “I probably need to structure within Kering, a platform that is more adapted to accommodate brands below 300 million in turnover because we have been relatively bad at integrating small brands,” he said.
Kering doesn’t break down sales of individual houses except Gucci, but according to Bernstein estimates, the house generated less than €200 million in 2025, down sharply from a peak of €850 million during the post-pandemic luxury boom in 2022/2023.
During the group’s H1 earnings call at the end of July, de Meo said that McQueen is “executing its transformation plan focused on simplification and operational discipline,” noting that it closed 20 stores in the first half.
Kering is to publish its third-quarter earnings on October 22. Creative changes are likely to be on the agenda of the earnings call as Saint Laurent, the second largest house in Kering’s portfolio, has yet to appoint a new creative director following the departure of Anthony Vaccarello after a decade at the helm.
“I leave with profound gratitude for the dedication of the studio and atelier, and craftspeople. I look forward to my next chapter and wish the house every success,” McGirr also said in Thursday’s statement.
