The iconic brand convened a who’s-who of modern British music in four cozy listening sessions at their flagship London store.
Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen
text by Karly Quadros
From ’80s godparents of goth rock Siouxsie and the Banshees to electroclash feminist Peaches to mercurial IBM auteur Aphex Twin, Alexander McQueen’s runway shows have always been soundtracked by music on the cutting edge. Just as Lee McQueen knew how to build a whole world from a collection of garments, a set, and a soundtrack, contemporary fashion labels are no longer content with simply being looked at or purchased; they want to be experienced.
Last Thursday, Alexander McQueen hosted four listening sessions over eight days with A.G. Cook, Bar Italia, John Glacier, and Nilüfer Yanya at their flagship location in London, the latest in a growing trend of high fashion labels merging music and style in intimate settings. Curated by creative director Seán McGirr, the musicians chatted about their influences and style with four influential musickers: editor of EPOCH Francesca Gavin, indie label founder Cyrus Goberville, NTS Radio founder Femi Adeyemi, and creative strategist Cynthia Igbokwe.
These listening spaces mine a common line between music and fashion: inspiration. Within the room walled by mirrors, some of London’s most innovative young musicians explored why and how they create. “We made music together because there was nothing else to do,” said vocalist Jehzmi Femi about the band’s beginning in 2019. “So you’re a lockdown band,” joked Cyrus Goberville.
Notorious genre blender A.G. Cook—whose mega-sized solo albums 7G, Apple, and Brit Pop draw on everything from ’90s Europop to garage rock to nightcore to hushed acoustic songwriting—had a typically omnivorous take: “That’s the thing that I like about music in general: not just the layers, but the slight sense of time travel I get hearing this. The details of it, unnecessarily going that extra step…. It’s what we’re gonna do now, not in terms of genre, but in terms of extra effort and weirdness,” Cook said, rocking an oversized, baby blue Alexander McQueen button down.
Between musings, artists played out their own personal soundtracks from classic love songs like “In My Life” by the Beatles to post-punk freak-outs like “Hypnotize” by Scritti Polliti. Check out playlists from Cook, Bar Italia, and more below.
