Seán McGirr Leaves McQueen, Four Weeks After Bringing It Home
Seán McGirr is leaving Alexander McQueen. Kering announced on 15 October 2026 that the Irish designer, creative director of the house since late 2023, will step down, and that McQueen will soon announce its new creative leadership. The statement gives neither a date nor a successor.
The timing is what makes the news. On 20 September, McGirr brought McQueen back to London Fashion Week for its Spring/Summer 2027 show, the house’s first London runway in years and a collection built around the city itself. Less than four weeks later, the designer who led that return is leaving it.
In brief
Kering. Two Kering houses now await new creative leadership at the same time. Saint Laurent confirmed the departure of Anthony Vaccarello on 9 October 2026 after ten years, and both announcements close with the promise of new creative leadership in place of a named designer.
The direction. Luca de Meo, chief executive of Kering since September 2025, sets out a bold new direction for McQueen built on three pillars: exceptional tailoring, uncompromising creativity and rebellion. His statement speaks of the house and its heritage rather than of a successor.
The house. Gianfranco D’Attis, president and chief executive of Alexander McQueen, credits McGirr with reconnecting McQueen with London, its culture and its creative energy. McGirr led the house from late 2023, when he succeeded Sarah Burton.
The designer. McGirr describes his McQueen as the interplay between raw human beauty and the precision of the house. In his farewell he thanks the studio, the atelier and the craftspeople, and says he is looking forward to his next chapter.
The pastel gown
Evening dress in pale watercolour tones from the collection that brought McQueen home to London.
Photo: Courtesy of McQueen
The Prince of Wales suit
Tailoring opened Seán McGirr’s London show and leads the new direction Kering sets for the house.
Photo: Courtesy of McQueen
The pinstripe suit
Savile Row cloth in the women’s collection, the line that ties McQueen back to its founder’s training.
Photo: Courtesy of McQueen
The metallic dress
One of the last looks of McGirr’s tenure. McQueen will announce its new creative leadership soon.
Photo: Courtesy of McQueen
Swipe through the looks →
Why it matters
De Meo is redefining what a creative director is for. After Kering’s 2025 results he argued that designers had for too long been treated as the saviours of a brand, when they are valuable members of a larger team. At Saint Laurent, the next creative organisation is being built as a team, with a new designer expected to work within the group’s strategic vision.
McQueen reaches this point after a hard reset. By de Meo’s own account, the brand had expanded to 135 stores and become heavily dependent on sneakers, which at one stage made up 80 percent of its revenue. His brief was to grow ready-to-wear and give McQueen a distinct place within the group. Tailoring, the first pillar in his statement, is where Lee Alexander McQueen began, on Savile Row.
What McGirr leaves behind is the part of a turnaround that cannot be bought: a house visibly at home in London again. The open question is who carries that forward, and in what kind of structure. Whether Kering names a single designer or a studio around one, the next appointment will show what a house without a star system looks like in practice.
Send this to someone who follows how Kering is rebuilding its houses.
Sources
- Kering, Alexander McQueen announces the departure of creative director Seán McGirr, 15 October 2026
- Kering, Saint Laurent announces the departure of its creative director Anthony Vaccarello, 9 October 2026
- McQueen, Spring/Summer 2027 collection, London, 20 September 2026
- Kering, 2025 annual results and statements by Luca de Meo, February 2026