MCQ ALEXANDER MCQUEEN AUTUMN/WINTER 2015-16 READY-TO-WEAR LONDON

It’s weird: When it came to the McQ by Alexander McQueen menswear collection for Fall ’15, the lack of brand-specific extravagance and histrionics seemed something to relish. Today in the womenswear, however, that absence left more of a meh-shaped hole. There is nothing to fault in the execution of a collection liberally sprinkled with great everyday pieces. Who doesn’t love a sweet biker, a painstakingly washed jean, a (soft) bad-girl snake-print chiffon vest? The McQ design team’s loose theme is collaging, hence the metallic-feels-rubbery patch on that scrummily soft Aran jumper and the collision of leopard print and biker. Ho hum.

Another angle was layering, which is why some looks had gauzily black chiffon aprons, which only half-encircled the legs, hanging here and there below. We saw the culottes that featured in the men’s collection, but here, without trousers worn under them. Illustrations on sweats and tees included surreal collages similar to those shown in Milan last month, as well as some attractive but thematically ungrounded Egyptian touched line illustrations. One strong point was the silvery-looking material used for minidresses and a coat: This was an extremely thin layer of cork that had been coated, a technique taken from shoemaking. The organic ripples and puckers of the cork beneath the sheen had a subtle but satisfying creepiness to them. This was a fine commercial collection of young womenswear, but it didn’t substitute the removed morbidity of its mother ship’s oddness with anything tangible enough to make you lust for it over the many equivalents on the market.