As Paris Fashion Week drew to a close, Sarah Burton unveiled an Alexander McQueen show that looked to the future. Beneath mechanical visors, models hovered over the catwalk in supple, effervescent dresses, that presented a wistful alternative to the steely robotic vision of the future that we are used to.
Voluminous layers of marabou feather and swelling silk ruffles simulated organic explosions and fungal spores under a microscope. As they billowed with movement, the dresses seemed to come to life. Cells multiplied and the organisms grew with every step.
If Karl Lagerfeld is on another planet, Sarah Burton is from another world.
McQueen often sourced nature's enigma to fuel his catwalk shows but found himself entangled in a more sinister labyrinth. When it comes to research and theme, Burton's method is just as forensic but her judgement is much lighter. This has allowed her to establish herself more freely. You come away from her shows with a feeling just as powerful as before; but it's enlightening, rather than perturbing.
In her fourth season at the helm, Burton has continued her process of a white conception, a black nightmare phase and a blossom into pink and red. This allows the collection to flower with both intent and intrigue.
It's a journey of ignorance into discovery. Luminous whites are submerged in a type of purity and virtue that means an evolution into darker colours will induce a shudder. Goat fur pompoms covered black dresses like blistering micro-organisms. This led into a flurry of asphyxiating puffs of marabou feathers and shaggy fur.
However, the intensity very quickly relented as more tonal blush hues and warmer colours bled in. Hundreds of dandelion clocks and flower petals were hand appliquéd to lace dresses. They held onto the fabric in a hushed peacefulness; the way flowers exist in the time before they start to wilt.
The end of collection was similarly serene but slightly more energetic. Layers of dip-dyed degradee silk came in cherry-blossom and raspberry ripple flavours and shivered like coral reefs or the underside of sprouting mushrooms. This paved the way for a giant pink marshmallow eruption that, I have to admit, threw me a little.
For a winter collection, the subject matter resonated more naturally with the life-bloom of spring time. It was as magical and unpragmatic as always with McQueen, but honestly, I found it a bit samey. Burton seems to cling to her feminine urges and, although she has successfully asserted herself through them, I think it's time she pushed herself into something more uncomfortable.
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