Spring Summer 2026
“We push against nature, tempering instinct in the name of order. What happens when we give way, satisfying our deep-seated desires and innate impulses? What does it take to stir and submit to that primal drive?”
— Seán McGirr, Creative Director
Paris, 5th October 2025.
A febrile charge in the air.
A site of simmering tensions, peak summer, pulling between carnal restraint and release. Navigating order and an opposing impulse: a primitive drive, submitting to raw animal instinct.
The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy (1973), anchoring a sartorial push and pull, journeying through stifling desire and deliverance.
Exploring the thrill and threat of giving way to nature, as officer uniforms unravel. The jacket re-examined and rendered in several forms, exploring McQueen’s incisive tailoring through a modern streetwise lens. Sliced with displaced patch pockets. Uniform fabrics and finishings applied to slashed bustier dresses. Every iteration sharply cut, rooted in the technical tailoring heritage of the house.
The body as a driving force with gestures engineered into garments. Shirting and poplin dresses cinched and pulled taut. Skirts and trousers low-slung. The bumster reinterpreted, adjustable with polished buckle hardware. Ease upheld, while holding the body’s contours.
Instinct overpowering an imposed order. Corsetry details liberated from tradition; form without restriction, applied to jacquard dresses and boots.
Towards deliverance, submitting to the raw power of nature. Abstracted insect prints unfurling into billowing parachute silk gowns. Dresses with scorched spray paint dégradé and scintillating fire embellishment. A sculpted and draped silhouette, cascading into flaming tendrils and layered silk chiffon.
Subconscious desires surfacing, shifting towards an incendiary climax. Free amid earth and the urbane.
Fabrics
Lightness suffused with texture. Juxtaposing sharply cut wool mohair-hopsack, sliced printed leather, metal chainmail and gold bullion embroideries with washed cotton twill, delicately rendered floral jacquards and diaphanous sunburst silk habotai.
Bags
A synthesis of modern kinetic energy and pagan mysticism, incorporating elemental materials: luminous mother of pearl,wood and hand-sculpted talisman charms. Geometric silhouettes, including the Manta, a reinterpretation of the archival De Manta bag, finished with corset lacing, fringing, flame embellishment and the McQueen skull scarf.
Shoes
The signature archival McQueen horn-shaped heel, from Spring Summer 2003, applied to classic silhouettes: mules, tall boots and sandals. Formed of softly sculpted leather, suede and floral jacquard.
Jewellery
Sculptural and sharp, deeply rooted in nature, featuring talismanic and folkloric motifs: scissor, insect and wishbone charms across earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
Set
A sense of abstracted folkloric pageantry informed by communal celebrations of renewal. A fortified maypole-like structure holds the centre, made using 8000m of hessian ribbon, natural foliage and cork, created with sustainability in mind. Featuring a maypole crown crafted by the Armagh Rhymers, an Irish folk group dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of Irish mumming and storytelling.
Music
An original soundtrack produced by A. G. Cook, continuing McQueen’s collaboration with British artists driving innovation in music. A tension between unsettling and uplifting, transitioning between acoustic and synthesised. Cinematic, layering expansive elemental-inspired sounds – water, earth and fire - and syncopated techno beats. A folkloric, Anglo-Saxon and urbane score, pounding towards dreamlike release.
Sustainability
McQueen is committed to reducing the environmental impact of our shows. Marking the 10-year anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, the house has collaborated with NGO ACT1.5 to adopt a 360º approach – from using low-impact set materials and electric transport to powering the show with renewable HVO energy.
Credits
Tom Scutt is a British Tony award-winning artist working across theatre, live music and fashion as production designer, stage director and creative director. Notable recent work includes Cabaret (West End/Broadway), Pet Shop Boys Dreamworld tour, and Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.
A. G. Cook is a British Grammy award-winning musician and music producer, characterised by his innovative and experimental style. Cook is instrumental in shaping the evolution of contemporary pop music, working with the likes of Beyoncé, Charli xcx, Troye Sivan and more.
Styling: Sarah Richardson
Casting: Julia Lange
Hair: Gary Gill
Make Up: Daniel Sallstrom
Nails: Ama Quashie
Concept and Production Design: Tom Scutt
Music: A. G. Cook
Harvest Knot Invitations: The Armagh Rhymers for McQueen
