The future of McQueen, according to McQueen Vault An independent archivist and expert tells us his vision for the brand

McQueen is a brand that every fashion lover cannot help but love. For many Millennials, Lee McQueen’s shows were precisely the first and most spectacular point of contact with fashion. His designs have influenced culture in ways we often don’t imagine (Tilda Swinton’s dress in the first The Chronicles of Narnia was a blatant copy of a McQueen runway piece, for example) and the tragic end of his story has forever sealed his story with the sense of fatality typical of all great legends.

Lee McQueen left behind a brand that today is in more than one difficulty, that is searching for a new creative director and that, crucially, has a cult following among fashion enthusiasts. But the most passionate of all is John Matheson, an American in London, who has collected and assembled one of the most extraordinary archives of garments and media related to the legendary Lee and, several years ago, opened the Instagram page @mcqueen_vault which today is approaching 200,000 followers.

The page is the best point of access to McQueen’s history that exists on social media, so much so that it has turned Matheson into a consultant and researcher. When McQueen’s last creative director, Sean McGirr, left his position two weeks ago, Matheson shared his thoughts on the brand in a series of Instagram Stories. And given his privileged point of view on the brand and its heritage, we contacted him asking him to elaborate on his thoughts. This is what he told us.