For pre-fall 2017, Alexander McQueen has launched the Box Bag. Crafted in Italy from the finest grained goatskin, it draws inspiration from antique luggage cases, sitting upright like a vintage suitcase, and topped with a distinctive fold-and-twist fastening.
As is to be expected from McQueen, a label that since its launch has embodied dark, gothic drama and has a unique knack for turning the macabre into something unexpectedly beautiful, the hardware is chunky and heavy, with a chain that allows you to wear it as a cross-body or shoulder bag, but can also be removed to create an evening clutch.
Available in two sizes, a small 16-centimetre version and a medium-sized 19cm version, the Box Bag is offered in a variety of finishes, including leather, suede and stamped crocodile print. For those who prefer their skins on the more exotic side, the bag also comes in crocodile and python.
Unsurprisingly, the colour options for this bag start at black and extend to off-white, before taking on key tones for the coming season: laurel green, ginger and lacquer red. The Box Bag was launched in the UAE this month.
The label’s love of gothic can also been seen in preceding Box family members. First launched in 2007, the original, now iconic Skull Box Clutch is a plump rectangle of hard-sided leather, topped with McQueen’s signature emblem, a skull, in the form of an eye-catching clasp.
The skull has appeared countless times across different collections, adorning shoes, bags and, most famously, a scarf, which has been copied endlessly.
The Knuckle Box Clutch arrived in 2009, and features straighter edges but a more aggressive opening clasp. In true McQueen style, this ladylike clutch becomes a statement of malicious intent, with bejewelled knuckledusters as a fastening.
Another recurring theme for the house presents itself in the form of the Heroine bag. With shows and collections often drawing on doomed heroines for inspiration, this unsettling theme was transformed into a strikingly elegant bag. Upright and noble, the Heroine bag is ridged to create a distinctive shape and topped with a neatly demure handle, stitched to form a utilitarian design feature. One incarnation of the Heroine also features a second handle that lies over the first to create a bag closure.
This is a prime piece of McQueen subversion, where the everyday is perhaps not tipped on its head, but certainly viewed from a different perspective.
smaisey@thenational.ae
