The Horn of Plenty: Alexander McQueen Fall 2009

The Horn of Plenty was Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2009 collection, shown on 10 March 2009 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy during Paris Fashion Week. It arrived in the middle of the financial crisis, and McQueen used it to look hard at the fashion industry, at its waste, its endless recycling of old ideas and its dependence on people buying more than they need. It was also a look back at his own career, and it remains one of the most argued-about shows he ever staged.

A runway on a rubbish heap

At the centre of the set was a huge pile of props from McQueen’s earlier shows, all painted black: carousel horses from What a Merry-Go-Round, a chandelier from Sarabande and a branch from The Girl Who Lived in the Tree. The runway around it was made of cracked, black mirrored glass. In other words, McQueen threw his own history on the scrapheap and asked his audience to walk past it.

The clothes

The 45 looks came in three phases: houndstooth and check, then mostly black, then seven showpiece dresses. Almost every look quoted twentieth-century fashion history, from Dior’s New Look and Chanel’s tweed suits to Givenchy’s little black dress. Houndstooth was blown up to giant scale, and sometimes several sizes of the check were mixed in one outfit. Some pieces looked like bin bags or bubble wrap but were made from expensive materials such as lacquered silk and paper nylon, a joke about luxury made out of rubbish.

Philip Treacy’s hats were built from everyday objects like lampshades and umbrellas, and Guido Palau made headpieces out of aluminium cans. The make-up gave the models huge, painted, clown-like red lips and white faces, and they walked in tall houndstooth platforms and red heels.

How it was received

Critics were split. Sarah Mower at Vogue called McQueen the last designer standing brave or foolhardy enough to show something so polarising, and Miles Socha at WWD praised a full-strength, hard-core McQueen experience. Others were less kind. Suzy Menkes objected to the exaggerated lips, Robin Givhan of The Washington Post felt the styling made women look foolish, and Eric Wilson of The New York Times asked whether a show about fashion’s lack of originality could borrow so heavily from fashion’s past.

Its legacy

Time has been kinder. The Horn of Plenty is now regularly listed among McQueen’s defining shows, and Seán McGirr, creative director of the house since 2024, has named it as a major influence. Royal Mail put its final look on a stamp in 2012, and several looks, including a Treacy basket hat, were shown in Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Met in 2011 and the V&A in 2015. Its warning about waste carried straight into his next show, Plato’s Atlantis, the last one he would stage.

Frequently asked questions

When was The Horn of Plenty shown?

On 10 March 2009 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, as Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2009 collection.

What was the set of The Horn of Plenty?

A large heap of props from McQueen’s earlier shows, painted black, surrounded by a runway of cracked black mirrored glass.

What was the collection about?

Waste and overconsumption in fashion, the 2008 financial crisis, and a look back at McQueen’s own career and at fashion history.

Who made the hats?

Philip Treacy made hats from objects such as lampshades and umbrellas, while Guido Palau made headpieces from aluminium cans.