ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

Directory:

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    Designers:

    (1992-SS09)Alexander Mcqueen

    (Fw09-SS24) Sarah Burton

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    MCQ diffusion line:

    Personally recommending you to not purchase pieces from this diffusion line, its often lazily designed, made from poor materials with bad craftsmanship, theres just not much to get from it, not to mention the amount of counterfeits.

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    Authentication:

    I would say anything from pre FW02 is automatically authentic, since Mcqueen was relatively underground and theres little incentive in making fakes of them. Also with the change of tags it is much easier for counterfeits to be made.

    Since fakes aren't still that well made then, any piece that can be dated before his passing is probably authentic as long as theres nothing too fishy.

    After around 2013 pieces are highly susceptible to counterfeiting so beware. Avoid anything with any slight discrepancy or "weirdness" of a crucial detail (bad label printing or craftsmanship). Theres a varying degree of fake tags since Mcqueen shares a manufacturer with Gucci, they are often counterfeited along side, theres much better guides to whether the tags indicate authentic or fake.

    I would recommend you to stick to Mcqueen era pieces (better designs and value, less chance of fake).

    Best to compare side by side to any Kering piece with the same tag.

     

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    All Mcqueen's collections:

    The best way always is to go thru every collection to familiarise the themes of every season. Here's the name of every mcqueen collection. 

    • 1992 Graduation Collection -"Jack the Ripper Stalks his Victims"
    • FW93 -"Taxi Driver"
    • SS94 -"Nihilism"
    • Fw94 -"Banshee"
    • SS95 -"The Birds"
    • FW95 -"Highland Rape"
    • SS96 -"The Hunger"
    • FW96 -"Dante"
    • SS97 -"Bellmer La Poupee" (Angular, Thorns, Restrictive)
    • FW97 -"It's a Jungle Out There
    • SS98 -"The Golden Shower"
    • FW98 -"Joan" 
    • SS99 -"No.13"
    • FW99 -"The Overlook"
    • SS00 -"Eye"
    • FW00 -"Eshu"
    • SS01 -"Voss"
    • FW01 -"What a Merry-Go-Round"
    • SS02 -"The Dance of the Twisted Bulls"
    • FW02 -"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
    • SS03 -"Irene"
    • FW03 -"Scanners"
    • SS04 -"Deliverance"
    • FW04 -"Pantheon ad Lucem"
    • SS05 -"It's only a Game"
    • FW05 -"The Man Who Knew Too Much"
    • SS06 -"Neptune"
    • FW06  -"The Widows of Culloden"
    • SS07 -"Sarabande"
    • FW07 -"In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem,1692"
    • SS08 -"La Dame Bleue"
    • FW08 -"The Girl Who Lived in the Tree"
    • SS09 -"The Horn of Plenty"
    • FW09  -"Plato's Atlantis"
    • SS10 -"Angels & Demons"

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      Dating the collection:

      This will guide you through the career of Alexander Mcqueen and how to identify pieces from each era. Choose from which era you are inquiring for.

      Early Collections (1992, FW93-Fw94):

      Mcqueen's career started when Isabella Blow plucked him from a crowd of Saint Martin Graduates and bought his entire "Jack the Ripper Stalks his Victims" collection, which would somewhat indicate Mcqueen's early direction with very eccentric collections. While his technique has matured, you can tell that early collections are more minimal and structural (spikey), often only with vest, tees, skirts, blazers(especially pointy ones) and pants. While his later collections often take inspiration from nature and somewhat more arty. Both directions are brilliant executed, but I personally find the contrast between two eras quite interesting. I would say there is a strong influence from Mrs Blow that led Mcqueen early on down a more radical path, and gradually developing towards nuanced since the Givenchy era.

       

      1992, Fw93-FW94

      So far theres no documentation of pieces from before SS95, with the few exceptions of a pair of prototype bumster pants from SS94 and a bleached coat from FW94, both are unlabelled and presumed to be made-to-measure/ made-on-demand pieces.

      Hence, it would be safe to assume anything from SS92 to FW94 are unlabeled and therefore unidentifiable without extensive research.

      Also these pieces seem to all be handmade by Mcqueen and his team personally, so theres often botches and crude stitchings that are far from perfect, but perfect in the Mcqueen way.

      Theres a notion that Mcqueen did the hair label right away at his 1992 graduation collection, while I dont see evidence of this, it's not like anyone's just gonna run into a piece like that, so I'll assume that he actually established the hair label only in SS95. He could have sewn his hair into the garments/lining, given his track record at the Anderson and Sheppard, but they are all just assumptions.

       

      SS95-Fw96 (Hair + Birth Label)

       

      We would like to add that this information is concluded from extensive research on existing online listings, which we must stress are filled with very much wrong information. We can only identify patterns, a bit of deduction and most of it is pure guesswork. Take everything we say here with a grain of salt and feel free to let us know if we get anything wrong.

      Hair label:

      Only the lucky few. Pieces from 1995-1996. Seems to only be on womenswear pieces. It seemingly originates from SS95 "The Birds" where there are two looks with these perspex pouches with Mcqueens hair on full display. Im sure theres a logical way of linking two of Mcqueen's notions, one that Victorian era prostitutes often have jewellery encapsulated with strands of their lovers' hair and the other notion that is you can sew anything ( particularly the hair of a loved one) into the lining of garments, so a transparent lining pouch that contains the designer's hair seem to make some sort of sense. 

      This idea is a very intimate one and no doubt a lot of people loved it, so it was incorporated and continued for the next three collections, when the Mcqueen label probably became so large it is no longer feasible to continue this feature. There's also seemingly an effort to shift perspective of the Mcqueen label from a designer label into luxury (due to the success of the fw96 Dante collection probably), along with a overall restructure of the label and labels and he was also CD at Givenchy, so it became extra infeasible.

      Exclusive for the most flagship items of each collection, i.e. a blazer with an extreme cut/pattern, so not every piece from the period will have it. Also seen on pieces along with the smaller label. 

       

      Birth Label:

      Detailing Mcqueen's very own birth certificate. There are multiple versions of this birth label it seems. From just "ALEXANDER MCQUEEN", "ALEXANDER MCQUEEN MADE IN ITALY" and the extensive version of the whole certificate. If I'm not mistaken the label evolved between season, adding more words onto the label as Mcqueen has more funding (more cost), I cant confidently pin conclusively which is which tho. 

      There is also some post on reddit that mentioned @Mcqueen_vault that these pieces are original pieces (whatever that means) however it was not approved by Alexander McQueen himself. So it is officially made by the company but not approved by the designer himself. It is noteworthy that non of the confirmed runway pieces have this label and these are mainly seen on menswear. Brand name outsourced as commercial pieces? IDK (source: https://www.reddit.com/r/alexandermcqueen/comments/192orwn/is_my_vintage_coat_legit/)

      This is from our own FW96 "Dante" Men's Blazer, which luckily has all the original paper tags and plastic birth label tag.  There are both white and navy versions to avoid overdying.

       

      Washtag:

      It's a very fun array of absolute mess of production tags from this period, given the very limited funding Mcqueen has, constant switching factories so a lot of different washtags. Each season might have different tags for different productions, i.e. silks, leather, jackets. Its almost impossible for it to be inauthentic tho, for assurance always date it from the runway first.

       

      If you have a piece like this go on vogue or youtube to check all collections from the period.

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      SS95-SS02 (Smaller label)

      There is an overlap in pieces that were produced between SS95 to FW96 that also feature the smaller label, even seen here with the hair label as well. They are placed on smaller items such as tops and skirts, where it would be nonsensical to put a giant label on. Afterwards (SS97 onwards) all pieces have the uniform black label with yellow words.

      - SS95- FW96 ( B&W, No "MADE IN ITALY")

      • Black label + White words  
      • White label + Black words (avoid overdying) 

       

      Washtag:

      It's a very fun array of absolute mess of production tags from this period, given the very limited funding Mcqueen has, constant switching factories so a lot of different washtags. Each season might have different tags for different productions, i.e. silks, leather, jackets. Its almost impossible for it to be inauthentic tho, for assurance always date it from the runway first.

      Most likely you will encounter this tag.

       

      - SS97 (Yellow words (womens), No "MADE IN ITALY)

      Black label + white words for men's

       

      -FW97-SS02 ( With "MADE IN ITALY")

      Black label + Yellow words for women's

      Black label + white words for men's

       

      Washtags:

      Switched to Helmut washtags, as below

       

      If you have a piece like this go on vogue or youtube to check all collections from the period.

        

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      FW02-2012 (Old Kering label)

      The usual label you will find, changed when the label switch production to Kering and used after his death until around 2012. Uniform for all items.

      Theres an array of colours you will find these labels in, i.e. a rather batshit detail woud be all fall 2002, the first collection produced by kering has the Alexander part of the label blacked out. there also ones that are fully black, fully white, one red and blue.
      Fall 2002:

      Most other seasons (this is from spring 2007): 

       

      Using the Kering system, just flip to the page with this and read whatever year is on it. It might be fall season of that yr or the spring collection next yr. FYI these tags follow the production year of the garment, think of it this way and it would make a lot more sense. So "2006" would be Fall 2006 or Spring 2007 etc 

      (except Fall 2002, it would only be indicated by 02 at the start of the string of codes)

      Also worth mentioning all kering labels indicate which brand the item was manufactured for. For Mcqueen its "UP55" for womenswear and "UP54" for menswear. 

       

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      2013 onward

      New tag + they switched the label somewhere in 2015, I dont think you can date it unless you have the tag.

      If you have a piece like this go on vogue or youtube to check all collections from the period.

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      Notes:

      Mcqueen shared a manufacturer with Helmut Lang before 2002, which does not have a date code on their tags. 

      Mcqueen was acquired into Kering in 2001 which would explain the drastic change in production and the increase in more commercial pieces.

      Givenchy Mcqueen era are on the other hand extremely easy to date. Just use the Dior system linked here.

      Fun fact: theres technifcally a diffusion line in the mid to late 90s that there is a denim diffusion line simply titled "Mcqueen"

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      Additional notes:

      Remember Mcqueen is the lad who put tyres marks on clothes just to make a "Fashion Roadkill" joke. Don't over-analysis and just appreciate his stuff.

      There is always a degenerative spirit in Mcqueen's collections, which is what i find missing from Sarah Burton's interpretation of the maison, its always too clean and heavy on embroidery. I like to think that Mcqueen as a lot more self-conscious when designing and tends more to theatricality than beauty.

      There's truth in that Mcqueen's earlier collections are more extreme and arguably better, but his keen eye for provocation, mastery of theatricality and the pure intuition for cutting never disappoints.

      Dont just focus on the grail or eye-catching pieces, often true beauty lies in the subtlety and build-up of a look. Observe how each piece contributes to the general theme, and understand the direction and purpose of each collection.  Then when everytime you observe a piece, you will not only see for what it is, but for the incredible amount of work and love behind the fabric and stitches.

      Pls feel free to add or correct any info by Dm-ing us on instagram.

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