For its Women’s Spring Summer 2026 campaign, McQueen shifts formal codes into open space, where tradition remains visible but no longer prescriptive.
The Spring Summer 2026 Pre-Collection campaign by McQueen unfolds in settings marked by British tradition and architectural restraint. Shot in stately, open-air locations, the images place formal codes in full light, exposing them outside their usual ceremonial context. Tailoring, heritage and attitude coexist without hierarchy, suggesting a shift where elegance is no longer governed by protocol but by presence.
Black tie jackets and trousers form the backbone of the collection. Rooted in the precision of Savile Row, they retain sharp construction while rejecting stiffness. The cuts are controlled, but the way they are worn alters their meaning. Structure moves away from ceremony and adapts to the body, allowing formality to feel lived in rather than imposed.
Dresses and skirts introduce a quieter contrast. Archival-inspired meadow florals bring softness and romantic nuance, while ‘MacQueen’ wool tartan anchors the collection in the house’s visual heritage. The dialogue between the two is direct and unembellished, balancing delicacy with graphic clarity and resisting nostalgia. Accessories extend this language of continuity: the archival Manta bag returns sculpted in black leather, its curved silhouette refined into an architectural form, while jewellery revisits the skull motif as a familiar signature rather than a statement.
Across the campaign, eveningwear is treated as a flexible code, displaced from its traditional setting and reimagined in daylight. Elegance shifts from rule to attitude, shaped by confidence, ease and a sense of freedom from ritual. McQueen proposes a vision of formal dressing that holds onto its heritage while allowing it to breathe, fully exposed and redefined in the open.
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