In 2010, after the death of Lee Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton, a then unknown insider at his namesake fashion house, took over the creative director position.
Now 13 years later, after Burton’s final show on Sunday, the baton has been passed to another newcomer.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Kering, the brand’s parent company, announced the Irish-born, London-based designer Seán McGirr as Burton’s successor.
While McGirr is somewhat of a neophyte in the fashion press, he comes with a prestigious CV. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, most recently he worked at JW Anderson where he oversaw ready-to-wear.
He has also held stints at Dries van Noten, Burberry and Uniqlo where he worked under Christophe Lemaire. Prior to designing, McGirr worked as a stylist in both Tokyo and Paris.
“We are delighted to welcome Seán McGirr as creative director,” said the brand’s CEO, Gianfilippo Testa, in a statement. “With his experience, personality, and creative energy, he will bring a powerful creative language to Alexander McQueen while building on its unique heritage.”
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation about who would land the illustrious role.
Starry fashion names said to be in consideration included the Italian designer Riccardo Tisci, who previously spent a decade at Givenchy before taking the helm at Burberry – an announcement that caused share prices to soar.
However, McGirr’s designation follows a pattern that is becoming more commonplace at luxury houses with brands either promoting existing in-house talent or poaching talent from other houses.
In January, another Kering-owned brand, Gucci, named Sabato de Sarno, previously a senior designer at Valentino, as its creative director. He followed in the footsteps of Alessandro Michele, previously part of Gucci’s design team, who became creative director in 2015.
In 2019, after the death of Karl Lagerfeld, his longtime protege Virginie Viard was named as his successor.
The departure of Burton comes amid a broader restructuring at Kering, which also owns Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta.
While Kering does not disclose sales figures for McQueen, sources say that after strong growth prior to 2020, more recently its performance has slowed.
In March 2022, Testa was named as McQueen’s new CEO and given the “mission” of accelerating the expansion of the British brand “to tap its full potential”.
Responding to McGirr’s appointment on social media, many fashion fans noted all the creative directors at Kering-owned fashion houses were now white men.
At rival conglomerate LVMH, four women hold top positions. Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo lead their namesake brands while Maria Grazia Chiuri and Camille Miceli head up Dior and Pucci respectively.
