Alexander McQueen: Love Spoons

Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton describes the Autumn/ Winter 2020 womenswear collection as “a love letter to women and to families, to colleagues and friends”. Nowhere is this more evident than in embroideries and jacquards inspired by Welsh love spoons. Discovered by the McQueen design team on a research trip to Wales, love spoons are traditional heart-shaped tokens of endearment, ornately carved from a single piece of wood, and featuring symbolic motifs including leaves, knots, flowers, daffodils, and doves. They are referenced in the collection in a red guipure love spoon lace dress with a cut-out back, in an ivory guipure love spoon lace encrustation on black leather and in the entwining hearts fil coupé jacquards on overblown silk taffeta and organza designs. “The hearts are a symbol of togetherness, of being there for others,” Sarah Burton says.