A surprise came later from another Irish designer, Seán McGirr, at McQueen. While his debut in February was met with widespread critique, Saturday’s show felt like a defiant step up. At the grand École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, an impressive scene to behold. Tiles were smashed to reveal a silver, steel-plate runway dug out, trench style, through the centre of the hall. It made for a dramatic backdrop for a collection which, in true McQueen style, looked to the Celtic figure of the banshee for inspiration (something the late Lee McQueen did for his own autumn/winter 1994 collection). So, points for originality — not loads, although he explains: “It’s also a story that I grew up with, so feels deeply personal to me, something I remember my mother talking about in Ireland, describing the cry of this solitary, foreboding figure.”
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