A compendium of reasons to visit the afterlife.

There are more than a few days I lay. I just lay in my bedroom, the window open only just enough to allow a cold breeze sweep across the room, yet I stay still - aroused by the thoughts on my mind. Around 11:46pm all I can see are the silhouettes of trees swaying in front of traditional London street lamps. The perfect setting for the topic on my mind - death. A constant obsession for a taste lingers at the back of my head, sometimes taking a more dominant reign of my thoughts.

Very few people in this world are ecclectic and interesting enough, to appreciate the subtle presence of the afterlife. However one who did, was Lee Mcqueen. An obsessive for dark manner and spirit, this would reflect a lot in his designs, and particularly well. Skulls, contortion and deformation were all great centrepieces for quite a few of Alexander's collection and with such a dark aura, the. Though of Lee's death still gives me chills, everytime I see his last line of work.

Just after four years in from his death, and Sarah Burton does an amazing job transcending Lee's spirit season after season. The SS14 McQueen menswear collection embodies Lee's vision of a simple yet grand style, often with a dark Victorian edge. An all over monochromatic collection and one that focuses on fine details and dark prints. Black roses were embroidered over pin-stripped suits, whilst gothic lace covered full-length jackets occasionally revealing skulls amongst the gothic patterns. Alongside the beautiful tailoring and intricate print details, Sarah Burton injected a slight grungy feel to the collection with the addition of very fine, almost cobweb-like knitwear.

McQueen - No shit on British Fashion.

I'm sure we can all agree, that Sarah Burton has done nothing but make us proud since her inception as creative director, at the haus of Alexander McQueen. Burton took over the fashion giants design, when McQueen passed away five years ago, in fact two weeks before my 18th birthday, and while even she will agree, that Alexander can not be replaced, she's done a pretty good job. As we can see, her main goal is to preserve the intention if the brand, and it's signatories, whoever giving her own spin and flare to the designs. As a CSM graduate, you can see she pays great attention to details. Everything in the collection is highly crafted alongside explosions of, what I like to call, metaphorical couture. This is a phrase I feel best describes an outfit which is so intense, loud and just fucking beautiful... It's almost an emotional metaphor.

Taking a closer look at the collection, the influence of traditional British military is evident and also I think key to the pieces. McQueen has always been proud of being British, and that shows in the labels work. Small yet important factors, such as; British tailoring, manufacturing,designing and promotion are almost as important as the aesthetic of the collection, when it comes to their principal.

Looking from an aesthetic point if view, Burton infuses timeless pieces with some influence from the mid 80's which is what makes the garments look and feel so special and unique. I've chosen only a few outfits to focus on, and without focusing on just one or two, I feel the collection as a whole really does work with what Burton has been trying (and succeeding) to achieve for the haus. Red, black and gold play an important part in the colour palette, and for a good reason as I believe, especially gold will be very big in fashion this and also next season. If anything is at fault, I would have liked to see the collection presented in a slightly more adventurous way, opposed to conventional catwalk. On the other hand doing so could degrade the impact the initial collection has. Needless to say Sarah Burton really has hit the nail on the head with this one. Big love to her!