Now that it's licensince pact with Italy’s SINV SpA has expired, Alexander McQueen's contemporary diffusion line, McQ, is back in the hands of its namesake company. And while the five-year old brand will still maintain most of its trademark qualities and design aesthetic—edgy and playful riffs on classic English-inspired tailoring—consumers can expect prices to lower to about 25 percent less than their current price points.
Jeans will retail for about $235, while dresses and jackets will fall in the $270 to $405 range, and t-shirts will be under $100. “We always felt there was scope to create a brand that was more accessible —and a little more edgy,” says Jonathan Akeroyd, president and chief executive officer at Alexander McQueen [via WWD]. Sarah Burton, who took over as the design head for Alexander McQueen following the designer's suicide last February, will oversee a team led by Pina Ferlisi, who cut her teeth working with popular contemporary brands like Generra, Coach, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Gap.
As a push for a stronger presence in key markets, including the U.S., a 160-piece pre-fall collection that was debuted in showrooms in New York, Milan, Tokyo and London yesterday featuring an array of schoolboy-meets-punk dressing.
