McQueen is back on the London Fashion Week calendar To the delight of the British Fashion Council

For SS27, Alexander McQueen is returning to the runway in the city where it was born: London. It will do so in September, during the most important fashion month of the year, bringing the designs of creative director Seán McGirr, who has led the house since 2024, to the English capital for the first time. «Returning to London Fashion Week allows us to deeply engage with that spirit and the creative community that defines both London and this house», the designer commented on the news, which was warmly welcomed by both the British Fashion Council and the rest of the British fashion industry.

McQueen’s return to London is one of the first results of the relaunch project that the BFC, under the leadership of President Laura Weir, is carrying out to restore economic and cultural value to British fashion after a period of major difficulties. McQueen has not shown in London since 2023, while the brand’s first collection had been presented there thirty years earlier, in 1993.

Weir confirmed that bringing the brand back to its hometown is part of the BFC’s new strategy: «One of my earliest ambitions as CEO of the British Fashion Council has been to see Alexander McQueen return home to London Fashion Week [...] 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».

«London is where our story began and remains central to our identity» - also acknowledged the brand’s CEO Gianfranco D’Attis, who has held the role since early June - «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».

In recent years, London Fashion Week has seen its calendar emptied of its leading names, with many brands such as McQueen and Stella McCartney deciding, one after another, to move to Paris. In 2025, the June Men’s Fashion Week was even cancelled. The only major name left in the city was Burberry, which under the creative direction of Daniel Lee is leaning heavily on its British roots to cultivate cultural capital.

From free participation in Fashion Week to all the investments dedicated to creative incubation projects, the British Fashion Council’s relaunch strategy is focusing entirely on new British talent. From this perspective, McQueen’s return to the city could serve as an incentive for local emerging designers who grew up with the myth of the British designer.

These are not easy times for McQueen either. The brand, owned by Kering, is undergoing a general downsizing of the company that has already created discontent among employees, who were protesting until a couple of weeks ago. Under the watch of Kering CEO Luca de Meo and McQueen’s new CEO Gianfranco D’Attis, this September the brand may perhaps have the chance to turn the page. Still with Seán McGirr, whose future in the brand’s atelier no longer seems quite so certain.