While the city's 28 degree early-October sunshine might have caught many of us off-guard, there was one thing we were all expecting this Paris Fashion Week and that was an emotional farewell to Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton.
Having announced her departure from the house she has served loyally for 26 years only two weeks prior, those of us who have looked on adoringly as she spent 13 years as Lee Alexander McQueen's right hand woman before taking over the role of Creative Director after his death in 2010 weren't given long to prepare for the goodbye.
This news, coupled with the brand's ever-present essence of heightened emotion, forever straddling the line between the romantic and the deeply macabre, provided the perfect opportunity for a particularly moving swan song. And as a visibly emotional Naomi Campbell wiped away a tear while closing the show, there was an undeniable sense that those of us lucky enough to be in the room were witnessing history.
Leaving a single departing note on every seat, Sarah introduced her final feminist statement for the house. "This collection is inspired by female anatomy, Queen Elizabeth I, the blood red rose and Magdalena Abakanowicz, a transgressive and powerfully creative artist who refused ever to compromise her vision. The show is dedicated to the memory of Lee Alexander McQueen, whose wish was always to empower women, and to the passion, talent and loyalty of my team.”
Believe it or not, the official start of winter is only just arriving.
Unlike many collections, both Alexander McQueen's and those delivered by other mega fashion houses, there was nothing too cryptic or abstract about this vision. For many pieces, in fact, there was no need to read between the lines at all, for Sarah's love of the female form and womanly abundance was brought into laser-sharp focus.
Here are four (very literal!) feminist details you might have missed…
On first look you might, like us, be thinking how beautiful these dresses are. On second viewing, however, and with the context of Sarah having been inspired by female anatomy for the collection, you might be seeing something further.
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With the spliced central line's shadowing and layered, labia-like red and pink frills wrapping around a small, cut-out opening, there's no denying the vulva visual that these incredible dresses conjure up.
Once we got over the jaw-dropping awe that comes only from witnessing Naomi Campbell do what she does best, we (somehow) dragged our focus from *those* cheekbones to her look.
Described by the brand as ‘an open heart corset with a sculpted hip in silver silk tulle with all-over glass bugle bead embroidery and a looped bugle bead skirt’, we couldn't help but notice the recurrence of this open-hearted corset silhouette across a number of the collection's other key pieces, moulding over the models' breasts like armour.
A key symbol for the house has long been flowers, but for her final collection for the house Sarah re-interpreted her blood red roses via a more literal visual; with many floral prints appearing as though they were fresh blood stains.
This rawness was carried throughout the collection, with blood red a recurring theme. A particularly visceral iteration came via a nude gown with woven red embroidery depicting the innards of the female anatomy, as trailing red threads fell from the piece appearing as though they were drips of blood.
Proving that she can adapt her feminine inspiration for tougher designs, Sarah's exploration of anatomy continued throughout her sharp tailoring and chunky knitwear.
Mapping out the bones and organs of the human body via cut-outs and cleverly-looped stitching, this take on the collection's key theme was a subtler - but no less impactful - feminist statement. Depicting the duality of womanhood, this development of Sarah's anatomical dissection celebrates a less delicate side of femininity that mustn't be overlooked.
As the announcement of Sarah's successor was unveiled yesterday to be Seán McGirr, previously Head of Ready-to-Wear at JW Anderson - and Women's Designer for Dries Van Noten before that - only time will tell how Alexander McQueen might look under a new vision.
If there's one thing we do know, it's that he has some incredibly big (white Nike) shoes to fill.
For more from Glamour UK's Fashion Editor Charlie Teather, follow her on Instagram @charlieteather.
