Alexander McQueen celebrates Christmas 2025 with an art deco campaign at Eltham Palace, directed by Seán McGirr with rebellious elegance.
Alexander McQueen ushers in the festive season with a campaign that fuses British grandeur and rebellious energy. Under the creative direction of Seán McGirr, the house has chosen Eltham Palace in southeast London as the setting for its Holiday 2025 campaign — a historic architectural treasure built in 1936 and now managed by English Heritage.
Photographed by Sammy Khoury with art direction by SJ Todd, the campaign captures the essence of a sophisticated celebration where classic elegance meets new hedonism. “Eltham Palace perfectly reflects the collection’s central tension: a British heritage subverted by a desire for freedom. That duality between formality and rebellion defines the soul of McQueen,” explains McGirr.
The palace, combining a medieval great hall with an art deco mansion added by philanthropists Stephen and Virginia Courtauld, becomes the stage for a visual feast where bright young things don deep burgundy velvet, jewel-toned satin and crimson lace. Models carry crystal-embellished Knuckle clutches and metallic Skull Flower bags, paired with tuxedo tailoring, crystal-detailed knitwear and asymmetric MacQueen tartan.
Although the looks belong to the pre-spring 2026 collection, the mood evokes the romantic melancholy of autumn 2025, when McGirr explored the concept of neo-dandyism, inspired by figures such as Oscar Wilde, Vesta Tilley and Helmut Berger in the 1970 film ‘Dorian Gray’. “A dandy is someone with a radical sense of self and an unshakable inner strength — that’s what McQueen stands for,” says the designer, who continues to blur gender boundaries on the runway.
Amid reflections, crystals and echoes of the past, McQueen revives the splendour of art deco for a generation that celebrates individuality with the same passion it raises a glass to the future.
