It would be hard to compare the Alexander McQueen show to anything other than McQueen this season, because the Spring/Summer 2014 collection that the house sent down the runway, or rather around a horse riding arena, was so McQueen.
Taking place on the penultimate day of Paris Fashion Week at the Garde Republicaine -- the home of the French Guard in central Paris (where farriers still knock out horse shoes by day) -- models walked on a bed of sand, blocked into chess-board-like panels that looked like soft carpet, in shades of gray, pink, and beige. They sported fashionable helmets and choker-style ribbed neckbands, like something Nefertiti would have worn.
The patterns on the sand could be found reflected in bold prints on cropped jackets with wide elbow-length sleeves and in longer knee-length jackets with matching skirts. Gold-colored straps were featured on top of several outfits -- resembling a parachute harness -- and accentuated the use of straps in the collection found on shoes, around arms, crossing torsos, and even on the ankles. The parachute strap idea continued over a clover-style, check-like fabric, which turned into shorts and knee-length skirts worn with summery brassiers.
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Leather warrior-like biker jackets came in black, with ribbed collars in a dusky pink covering the neck and decorating the sleeves. They were paired with black uniform-like soldier skirts in rich materials.
There was a play on white lace, with some leggings and frilly layered dresses that reached the knees and featured a geometric-inspired pattern -- these were paired with silver helmets and more straps around the shoulders. Geometric patterns in blues, reds, and whites -- like the colors of the French Guard -- appeared on more sporty, above-the-knee skirts worn with a brassier.
Layered skirts made in what looked like the red and blue manes attached sometimes to the helmets of the French Guard were worn with an angular, panel-like halter top, mirroring the patterns in the sand.
