Alexander McQueen: Store Opening

Alexander McQueen opens its first store in Hawaii at Ala Moana, Honolulu, following the new design concept for the house, conceived by creative director Sarah Burton in collaboration with the architect Smiljan Radic.

Drawing on a fascination with nature that underpins the core values of the house of Alexander McQueen, the main material employed is wood: oak and walnut, light and dark. This appears on floors, ceilings and walls, intricately engineered to fit the space, with seams barely visible, knitted together, echoing the signatures central to the Alexander McQueen name. Lines are curved, evocative of the human body and of the landscape.

Traditional techniques upholding the Alexander McQueen values of uncompromising craftmanship and the touch of the hand are combined with visionary design and innovation. Experimentation is prized: a new cladding – ‘cotton-crete’ – a cotton-based papier mâché, has been developed for the space.

The tension between the raw and the refined, the contemporary and the traditional that characterises the house of Alexander McQueen is omnipresent.