For Seán McGirr’s second collection with McQueen, collars ascend past the shoulders of school uniforms and square-toed heels invoke a traditional silhouette texturally contorted into something unrecognizable to the past. The genderless collection alternates between boastful references to the clothing of red-blooded schoolyards and moments of more approachable wearability.

Diego Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X plasters asymmetrical garments, obscuring the painting’s subject to instead focus on Vélazquez’s attention paid to the religious leader’s robes and the saturated backdrop of his quarters. McGirr nods to Velázquez, painting his town a myriad of reds cascading from ruby to mahogany and back to blood.

The silhouettes of an aristocracy of old juxtaposed against a vibrant punkish red. A glance to the past with a keen eye for the present, the forms of tradition are reimagined with textures and colors representative of a more playful present. This is Seán McGirr’s world at the helm of McQueen

This story appears in the pages of V151: now available for purchase!

Photography Pauline Caranton

Fashion Judit Melis

Makeup Marina Belfon-Rose

Hair Liam Russell

Models Stevie Sims (KMA), Max Mowle (Premier)

Casting Director Monika Domarke

Producer Philippe Rodrigues Neto

Makeup assistant Roo Amelia Gehring

Location Brick Studios