Ending speculation about the future of Alexander McQueen‘s label and whether it will show in Paris this season, Gucci Group parent PPR has said both will go on without the designer himself.
As it turns out, Gucci Group head Robert Polet spoke to McQueen a few weeks before his death about transitioning “from being the name of a designer to putting in place the building blocks of a brand.” Polet said McQueen had spoken of that as “my legacy,” and “something I will always leave behind.”
As for this season’s show, although there’s always a frenzied dash until the last minute and Polet called McQueen “irreplaceable,” McQueen’s team will ready the collection to be shown in Paris Fashion Week in early March. The label employs 180 people, including at its stores.
Meanwhile, the Times of London took a look at McQueen’s company’s financials and noted that it carries liabilities of over £32 million. “Although founded in 2001, the brand did not break even until 2007 and made a relatively small profit in 2008,” reports David Brown. 2009 figures were not yet available, but given that everyone had a brutal 2009, it’s fair to assume McQueen did too.
It remains to be seen what the company’s future commercial viability will be. Brown cites fashion historian Florence Muller:
“By the time he died in 1957, Christian Dior had become synonymous throughout the entire world with haute couture,” she told the AFP news agency. “Despite his notoriety, Alexander McQueen’s fashion house is not yet fully established, which makes its situation now more tenuous, more difficult.”
Alexander McQueen Label To Continue [AP]
McQueen’s Legacy Uncertain As Accounts Show Fashion House Had £32m Liabilities [Times Of London]