McQueen is starting over again, and fashion is running out of patience

Seán McGirr is leaving Alexander McQueen after three years. His departure raises uncomfortable questions about the house's creative identity, commercial struggles and what its next designer will actually be expected to fix.

Alexander McQueen is preparing for another reinvention. On 15 October, Kering officially confirmed that Seán McGirr would be leaving his position as creative director, ending a three-year tenure that began with enormous expectations and concluded just weeks after the house returned to London Fashion Week. A successor has yet to be announced, but the message from Kering is clear: McQueen is preparing for a different creative direction.

McGirr's appointment in October 2023 was always going to be difficult. He succeeded Sarah Burton, who had spent 26 years at the house and 13 as its creative director following Lee Alexander McQueen's death. Burton had developed an identity built around exceptional tailoring, historical romance and meticulous craftsmanship. McGirr, arriving from JW Anderson, represented a deliberate change of perspective.

His March 2024 debut made that distinction immediately apparent. Staged in an industrial warehouse outside central Paris, the collection introduced exaggerated proportions, distressed surfaces and a rawer, more youthful attitude. The intention was understandable. McGirr wanted to reconnect with the rebellious energy of the house's founder rather than reproduce Burton's romanticism. But the execution divided critics, with some questioning whether the clothes possessed the technical precision and emotional intensity that had made McQueen distinctive.

Subsequent collections became more controlled. McGirr developed his exploration of subculture, dark romance and unconventional tailoring, gradually finding a more coherent relationship between his own interests and the house's established vocabulary. His final Spring/Summer 2027 collection, presented at London's Lincoln's Inn Chapel in September, brought religious imagery into conversation with underground culture through sculptural shoulders, delicate fabrics, leather harnesses and sharply constructed silhouettes.

It was also a significant symbolic moment. Returning McQueen to London reconnected the label with the city where its founder developed his creative identity. That decision may prove to be one of McGirr's most enduring contributions, particularly as the house has confirmed that its next creative director will also show there.

Yet McGirr's departure cannot be understood through runway criticism alone. McQueen has been confronting substantial commercial difficulties, with industry estimates suggesting annual revenue fell below €200 million in 2025, far beneath its earlier peak. Kering has also embarked on a major restructuring, including plans to halve the house's store network by the end of 2026.

These problems extend beyond the creative director's studio. McQueen had expanded into a luxury retail business heavily dependent on accessories and commercially accessible products, a strategy that increasingly conflicted with its reputation for uncompromising design. Kering now appears determined to reposition the house around its original strengths: tailoring, occasionwear, craftsmanship and a more specialized luxury offering.

That creates a difficult question about McGirr's tenure. Was he unsuccessful in establishing a compelling new identity, or was he appointed to revive a business whose problems required far more than new collections? The answer is probably somewhere between the two. His early work lacked the conviction expected of McQueen, but the house's commercial challenges were already developing before his arrival.

The next appointment will therefore carry unusually complicated expectations. Kering needs a designer capable of producing culturally significant fashion while helping rebuild a smaller, more focused business. It must recover the creative authority associated with the McQueen name without reducing its founder's legacy to an endless collection of familiar references.

McGirr's departure marks the end of an uneven but increasingly interesting chapter. His work did not deliver the transformation Kering wanted, yet it demonstrated how difficult it has become to establish an independent vision inside a house whose history remains so powerful.

McQueen does not simply need another designer who understands rebellion. It needs a creative direction strong enough to make rebellion feel relevant again, and a business strategy capable of supporting it.