Alexander McQueen’s new Macau store mixes Francis Bacon, skeletons and edgy fashion in a stunning brand debut in the SAR.
The 145 sqm store has opened on The Promenade, a luxury retail strip inside the newly opened Galaxy Macau integrated resort. It is the brand’s first standalone store in Macau and was designed by Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen in partnership with David Collins Studio.
Inspiration for the design came from many sources, explains Burton: Flora and fauna, real and imagined; the warped perspective of Francis Bacon’s paintings of Popes; the Surrealist artist HR Giger; the Eighteenth Century salon and Rorschach ink blots; primitivism, the human skeleton and the There are subtle references to Alexander McQueen signatures throughout the store.
In particular, the curved seams of a heritage tailored jacket and the “armadillo” shoe are echoed within the plaster panel mouldings.

 
“The Galaxy store features beautiful and exquisite interior elements, from the bespoke wall panels to the aged brass display pieces. The collections are presented in an environment that feels luxurious and precious which is also reflective of our design ethos,” said Burton.
The store has a wide window storefront which gives customers an open and welcoming feel. A large light-box wall on the right of the facade features imagery from Alexander McQueen’s seasonal campaigns. The shop floor has been divided into areas dedicated to men’s ready-to-wear, women’s ready-to-wear and accessories.
It has a cleaner and more minimal aesthetic with two feature walls of a large scale bespoke panelling. The designs of these moulded plaster panels are a cornucopia of wings, shells, cactus flowers, mushroom gills, seahorse tails and tangled leaves. Tiny skulls and grimacing gargoyles nestle in their folds. An apparent symmetry is subtly disrupted.
The floor is white Calacatta Oro cracked marble alongside deep pile carpets and display furniture features solid bronze animal feet and monster claws. Soft furnishings are clad in marble and upholstered in pale grey leather whilst hanging rails are crafted in black lacquer and aged brass. Shelving and display plinths have been created in marble with aged brass details.
Colours are predominantly pale: dove grey, flesh, lilac, soft gold, and shades of white highlighted by soft lighting.
Concluded Simon Rawlings, creative director of David Collins Studio: “Our design concept… is the result of our ongoing collaborative relationship with Sarah Burton which has provided a consistently rewarding and stimulating investigation into the brand’s particularly layered and complex aesthetic. To work with a brand that has such a distinctive, instantly recognisable and nuanced style presented a pleasing design challenge.
“We set out to identify its tenets and translate them subtly into an interior environment that feels characteristic yet constantly fresh, evolving and reflective of the specific cultural and geographic context of each store.”
Customers of the new store will get to shop an expansive selection of seasonal as well as classic items. From runway, commercial and accessories collection across men’s and womenswear as well as iconic McQueen pieces such as the skull scarves, knucklebox clutches and the Heroine and Legend day bag ranges from the house.