Daily Front Row

(PARIS) Alexander McQueen 
Holy honeycomb! Such was the textural overtone of Sarah Burton's latest, with a bit of cheese grater and chainmail visually referenced by the hive of belted, peplumed vests, tapestry skinnies with front seam slits, and bulbous, tiered skirts. The most literal of the bee-stung pieces—the opening pair of slick cropped black trou dripped in gold down the sides of the legs—narrowly avoided cheesy kitsch territory. Wrought primarily in a glossy black and gilded palette and detailed, rather brilliantly, with tortoiseshell harnesses, belts, chokers, and cuffs, Burton's perforated perspective lent a masterfully light touch to even the darkest and subversive-hewing of looks. Chapeaus were wheel-like in shape and shrouding the eyes behind a church confessional-esque screen. Rounding things out were a few tapis rouge-ready looks in butter, bright red, and black, showcasing subtler notes (intricate pintucking on the bodices, shimmery bees patterning skirts) of Burton's sting operation. The closer, though, went full throttle, in all of its golden, floor-length, nest-esque exterior hoop-skirted glory.