I am sure many of you have heard the news that Alexander McQueen has joined the ranks of Comme des Garcons, Stella McCartney, and Karl Lagerfeld, and is officially designing a line for Target. Upon hearing this, I promptly swooned in anticipation, and began planning my strategy of circumnavigating every shop carrying the collection in a 50 mile radius of Jersey City. I began fantasizing of a summer wearing gold embroidered peacocks, military coats, and Napoleonic-themed sun dresses.
Then I saw the preview. And then I frowned.
Ok, don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of really great basics in this collection. There are some extremely nice jackets and cardigans, whose pieces have a very intelligent, angular and minimal cuts. There are a few pieces I definitely want in my wardrobe: specifically, the one-armed tank, the grey geometric dress. I will beat someone over the head for the grey motorcycle jacket. The grey platforms are the nicest shoes I have ever seen come out of Target. (Yes, I have a thing for grey).
BUT. But. This is ALEXANDER MCQUEEN. you know…
And yes, I know it would be impossible for them to provide the level of embellishment and perfection as the runway piece, but I expected it to at least have some CUES from his standard fare. Even Comme des Garcons pieces for H&M had that quirky flair that made them feel like they were Kawakubo. There are certain cues I feel are undeniabley McQueen, them being:
- unique, multifaceted fabric patterns
- eccentric embellishment
- a sense of drama
All three of these are severely lacking in the Target pieces. And not one pair of interesting pants?
I am disappointed. I think that even for a more conservative retail market, McQueen could have pushed the boundaries further in this collection. Instead, it feels like he almost forcibly contracted to become more desirable to a larger market, rather than simply being limited due to material and economic constraints. I would have liked to see at least one beautiful fabric pattern (I find the monochrome neon pink tribal and grey face-screens rather generic and dull), and a couple of pieces that held on to the eccentric sense of imagination that makes McQueen’s work so unique.
However, I feel that whenever a high-end designer embraces the retail end, it is a step in the right direction. Make sure you cue up early friends – this is sure to sell out quickly.
To see the whole preview, click here.
What do you think of the collection? Am I alone in this?
