Lee Alexander McQueen (1969–2010) was a Savile Row–trained tailor from East London who turned the fashion show into theatre. In eighteen years he staged 36 collections under his own name, from a Central Saint Martins graduate show bought whole by Isabella Blow to the livestreamed spectacle of Plato’s Atlantis. His work mixed razor-sharp cutting with history, nature, film and violence, and it still sets the bar for what a runway can say. This guide lists every collection in order, explains the ones that mattered most, and links to every McQueen show we have reviewed in the Ayerhs archive.
Alexander McQueen at a glance
| Born | 17 March 1969, Lewisham, London |
| Trained | Savile Row apprentice (Anderson & Sheppard, Gieves & Hawkes), then MA at Central Saint Martins |
| Label founded | 1992 |
| Own-label collections | 36 womenswear collections, 1992–2010 (35 if you leave out the graduate show) |
| Also designed | Givenchy couture and ready-to-wear, October 1996 to October 2001 |
| Shows held in | London until 2001 (plus one in New York, 1999), Paris from October 2001 |
| Signatures | Bumster trousers, skull print, armadillo shoe, oyster dress, sharp tailoring, theatrical finales |
| Creative director today | Seán McGirr (since 2023) |
Timeline: McQueen’s life and label
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1985 | Leaves school at 16 and starts an apprenticeship on Savile Row |
| 1992 | MA graduate show, Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims; Isabella Blow buys the whole collection |
| 1993 | First own-label collection, Taxi Driver, introduces the bumster trouser |
| 1995 | Highland Rape makes him the most talked-about designer in London |
| 1996 | Named head designer of Givenchy; wins the first of four British Designer of the Year awards |
| 2000 | Gucci Group (now Kering) buys a controlling stake in his label |
| 2001 | Leaves Givenchy; moves his shows to Paris |
| 2003 | Appointed CBE |
| 2009 | Plato’s Atlantis becomes one of the first fashion shows streamed live online |
| 2010 | Dies on 11 February, aged 40; Sarah Burton becomes creative director |
| 2011 | Savage Beauty opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| 2015 | Savage Beauty travels to the V&A in London |
| 2023 | Burton leaves after 26 years with the house; Seán McGirr takes over |
Every Alexander McQueen collection, 1992–2010
All 36 collections in show order. Where we have reviewed the show, the link takes you to our full review with the looks.
| Season | Collection | The idea | Ayerhs review |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate, 1992 | Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims | Victorian London and its murders | – |
| Fall 1993 | Taxi Driver | Scorsese’s film; debut of the bumster | – |
| Spring 1994 | Nihilism | Raw, anti-pretty first catwalk show | – |
| Fall 1994 | Banshee | The wailing spirit of Gaelic myth | – |
| Spring 1995 | The Birds | Hitchcock and the prints of M. C. Escher | – |
| Fall 1995 | Highland Rape | England’s brutality towards Scotland | – |
| Spring 1996 | The Hunger | Vampire film; his first menswear | – |
| Fall 1996 | Dante | Religion and war, in a Spitalfields church | – |
| Spring 1997 | La Poupée | Hans Bellmer’s surrealist dolls | – |
| Fall 1997 | It’s a Jungle Out There | The gazelle as prey; fashion as predator | – |
| Spring 1998 | Untitled | Metamorphosis, water and brutality | – |
| Fall 1998 | Joan | Joan of Arc and martyrdom; ring-of-fire finale | – |
| Spring 1999 | No. 13 | Arts and Crafts; the spray-painted dress | – |
| Fall 1999 | The Overlook | The Shining, staged in a snowstorm | – |
| Spring 2000 | Eye | Islamic dress and the East–West gaze | Read |
| Fall 2000 | Eshu | The Yoruba deity; African and Victorian dress | Read |
| Spring 2001 | Voss | An asylum in a mirrored glass box | Read |
| Fall 2001 | What a Merry-Go-Round | The dark side of the circus; first skull print | Read |
| Spring 2002 | The Dance of the Twisted Bull | Bullfighting and flamenco; first Paris show | Read |
| Fall 2002 | Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious | Tim Burton films and English schoolwear | Read |
| Spring 2003 | Irere | Shipwreck to paradise; the oyster dress | Read |
| Fall 2003 | Scanners | A journey east through Siberia, Tibet and Japan | Read |
| Spring 2004 | Deliverance | A Depression-era dance marathon | Read |
| Fall 2004 | Pantheon ad Lucem | Greek drapery meets science fiction | Read |
| Spring 2005 | It’s Only a Game | A life-sized chess match on the runway | Read |
| Fall 2005 | The Man Who Knew Too Much | Hitchcock heroines and 1950s polish | Read |
| Spring 2006 | Neptune | 1980s power glamour | Read |
| Fall 2006 | The Widows of Culloden | Scotland revisited; the Kate Moss hologram | Read |
| Spring 2007 | Sarabande | Decay and fragility; the fresh-flower dress | Read |
| Fall 2007 | In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692 | Witch trials and the occult | Read |
| Spring 2008 | La Dame Bleue | A tribute to Isabella Blow | Read |
| Fall 2008 | The Girl Who Lived in the Tree | A fairy tale of Britain and the Raj | Read |
| Spring 2009 | Natural Dis-tinction, Un-natural Selection | Nature against industry | Read |
| Fall 2009 | The Horn of Plenty | Fashion eating itself, on a pile of rubbish | Read |
| Spring 2010 | Plato’s Atlantis | Humans evolving back into the sea | Read |
| Fall 2010 | Angels and Demons (unofficial title) | Medieval and Renaissance religious painting | – |
The 6 collections that defined McQueen
1. Highland Rape, Fall 1995
- What happened: Models staggered down the runway in torn lace and ripped McQueen tartan, shown at the Natural History Museum.
- Why it mattered: The press called it misogynist. McQueen said it was about England’s violence against Scotland. The row made his name, and Givenchy hired him the next year.
2. No. 13, Spring 1999
- What happened: Shalom Harlow spun on a turntable while two industrial robots sprayed her white dress with paint. Paralympian Aimee Mullins walked on carved wooden prosthetic legs.
- Why it mattered: It is still the most-cited finale in fashion history, and proof that a show could be a piece of performance art.
3. Voss, Spring 2001
- What happened: Guests waited facing a giant mirrored box, staring at their own reflections. When the lights came up, it revealed an asylum full of models. The finale smashed open a glass case holding a masked, naked woman covered in moths.
- Why it mattered: It turned the audience into the subject of the show, a pointed comment on beauty and who gets to judge it. Read our review.
4. The Widows of Culloden, Fall 2006
- What happened: A softer return to Scotland, with tartan, lace, antlers and Philip Treacy headpieces. Kate Moss appeared as a ghostly floating image inside a glass pyramid.
- Why it mattered: It showed McQueen could move people with grief instead of shock. It is the most-read review in our archive. Read our review.
5. The Horn of Plenty, Fall 2009
- What happened: Models with exaggerated red lips walked around a heap of smashed props from his earlier shows, in houndstooth and dresses made to look like rubbish bags.
- Why it mattered: A furious satire of fashion recycling its own past, made in the middle of a recession. Read our review.
6. Plato’s Atlantis, Spring 2010
- What happened: Digitally printed reptile and jellyfish dresses, the ten-inch armadillo shoe, and robotic cameras sweeping the runway. Lady Gaga premiered “Bad Romance” through the livestream.
- Why it mattered: His last complete collection, and one of the first shows broadcast live online, which changed how the world watches fashion. Read our review.
How to spot a McQueen: signature codes
| Signature | What it is | First seen |
|---|---|---|
| Bumster trousers | Cut so low they show the base of the spine | Taxi Driver, 1993 |
| Sharp-shouldered tailoring | Savile Row precision, often in severe shapes | Every collection |
| McQueen tartan | His family’s tartan, used as a statement of Scottish roots | Highland Rape, 1995 |
| Skull print | Later the famous scarf and the label’s best-selling motif | What a Merry-Go-Round, 2001 |
| Oyster dress | Hundreds of layers of organza in a shell-like skirt | Irere, 2003 |
| Armadillo shoe | A hoof-like platform about 30 cm tall | Plato’s Atlantis, 2010 |
| Theatrical finale | Robots, holograms, fire, snow or a glass box | From the mid-1990s on |
McQueen after Lee: the house today
| Creative director | Years | Our reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah Burton | 2010–2023 | Fall 2011 · Fall 2012 · Spring 2013 · Fall 2013 · Fall 2016 · Fall 2018 · Spring 2019 · Resort 2020 · Spring 2024 (her last) |
| Seán McGirr | 2023–present | Spring 2025 · Fall 2025 · Spring 2026 · Fall 2026 |
Burton also designed Catherine Middleton’s wedding dress in 2011. For a decade-by-decade look at her runway, see The best of Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton.
Keep reading on Ayerhs
- Alexander McQueen: the complete guide – his life, from Savile Row to Savage Beauty
- A–Z of Alexander McQueen – the people, places and pieces in 26 letters
- John Galliano: the complete guide – his rival, peer and predecessor at Givenchy
Alexander McQueen collections: FAQ
How many collections did Alexander McQueen design?
36 womenswear collections under his own label between 1992 and 2010, including his MA graduate show. He also designed couture and ready-to-wear for Givenchy from 1996 to 2001.
What was Alexander McQueen’s last collection?
Plato’s Atlantis (Spring 2010) was the last collection he finished. The Fall 2010 collection, often called Angels and Demons, was unfinished when he died and was completed by Sarah Burton and shown privately in March 2010.
What is McQueen’s most famous show?
No. 13 (Spring 1999), for the robot spray-paint finale, followed closely by Voss, The Widows of Culloden and Plato’s Atlantis.
Who designs Alexander McQueen now?
Seán McGirr, who succeeded Sarah Burton in 2023 and showed his first collection in March 2024.
Sources: Victoria and Albert Museum; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Wikipedia, List of Alexander McQueen collections; Ayerhs archive reviews.
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