Alexander McQueen celebrates retail concept with short documentary

Have you ever wondered how a luxury store concept comes together? British luxury fashion house Alexander McQueen is showcasing the new retail concept that was conceived by creative director, Sarah Burton and architect Smiljan Radic for the brand’s London flagship store with a short film focusing on its inception.

The short documentary highlights how Radic creates a calming space through the use of earthy raw materials to create the modern retail concept used in Alexander McQueen’s Old Bond Street flagship store, which opened in 2019.

The film moves between Radic’s native Chile, specifically his Santiago studio and The Right Angle House, a black concrete structure which he designed and built in Vilches, which inspired Burton to commission him to work on the flagship.

Radic known for domestic architecture and site-specific installation had never worked on a retail project before the McQueen flagship in London.

The documentary, also showcasing the guiding principle behind the retail concept, the redefinition of the notion of luxury, drawing on the beauty of natural materials and the values of fine craftsmanship and technological innovation that the house of Alexander McQueen represents.

This is brought together in the materials used - wood, concrete and granite, as well as the creation of the rock and tree sculptures by Radic’s wife, sculptor Marcela Correa, which are focal points of the London store.

“We use a lot of sculpture and rocks,” explains Radic in the film. “Because sometimes in new places you need a sense of different times. They give a complexity that new places don’t have.”

The nature of Burton’s own designs adds the final layer to the narrative of the retail concept, with the creation of a netting covered in embroidered insects that drapes across the store windows.

Images: courtesy of Alexander McQueen