Alexander McQueen

Nov 08, 2021

Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer of premium womenswear, menswear, and accessories for the Alexander McQueen fashion house.

Luxury fashion house Gucci acquired 51% of the company in 2000. Since 2010, the Alexander McQueen fashion label keeps creating new collections without its founder and creative director.

The French fashion group Kering owns Alexander McQueen and several other global luxury brands, including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, Ulysse Nardin, Girard-Perregaux, and Kering Eyewear.

Sustainability is part of the group's strategy as an ethical necessity and a driver of innovation.

The designer brand creates luxury and contemporary collections of clothing, shoes, and accessories that are also elegant, extravagant, and edgy.

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Sustainability Rating: 4/10

Rating FAQ

Category: Clothing, bags, shoes, accessories, jewelry

For: Women, men

Type: Basics, denim, dresses, knitwear, loungewear, outerwear, flats, sandals, boots, sneakers

Style: Chic, haute couture

Quality: High

Price: $$$

Sizes: 2XS-4XL, 0-16 (US), 6-20 (UK), 32-46 (EU), 6-20 (AU)

Fabrics: Cotton, linen, modal, viscose, acetate, polyester, nylon, spandex, acrylic, polyurethane, rubber, leather, wool, silk

100% Organic: No

100% Vegan: No

Ethical & Fair: Yes

Recycling: No

Producing country: not transparent enough

Certifications: SA8000

Sustainability Practices

"At Kering, we care about our impact on the planet and on people and we see this responsibility as an opportunity to reinvent our business and indeed luxury as a whole."

- François-Henri Pinault, Kering Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Alexander McQueen believes that luxury can have a significant contribution to creating a more sustainable world. It continues to lead through responsibility, accountability, and transparency to catalyze transformational change.

Alexander McQueen uses a small proportion of sustainable and natural materials such as organic cotton and linen.

The designer brand also uses some semi-synthetic regenerated fibers such as modal, viscose, and acetate made from renewable materials.

However, most of Alexander McQueen's fabrics are highly-polluting synthetic petroleum-based fibers such as acrylic, spandex, polyester, and nylon.

Alexander McQueen doesn't reveal enough information concerning how it chooses its suppliers. It doesn't publish a list of its manufacturing and processing facilities on its corporate website.

As part of the Kering Group, Alexander McQueen has taken steps to evaluate forced labor risks in its supply chain. The group has certified several of its businesses under Social Accountability International’s (SAI) SA8000 standard.

SA8000 includes an endorsement by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Kering continues its commitment to bring all of its businesses into compliance with SA8000 and obtain certification. It regularly audits its supply chain to ensure compliance with high social and environmental standards.

Alexander McQueen doesn't use any exotic animal skin, or hair, fur, angora. But it uses leather, wool, and silk to manufacture many of its clothing pieces.

These animal-derived materials are cruel and unethical and harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases and wastes. More sustainable alternatives exist.

Sustainability Goals

As part of the Kering Group, Alexander McQueen reduces its environmental impacts and advocates for social welfare through unprecedented innovation and industry collaboration.

Alexander McQueen aims to reach a 40% reduction target of its overall environmental impacts by 2025.

Alexander McQueen is carbon neutral by using greenhouse gas emission offsets that finance verified Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD+) projects that conserve critical forests, biodiversity and support the livelihoods of local communities.

Alexander McQueen plans to reach 100% sustainable sourcing and 100% traceability for key raw materials by 2025.

Alexander McQueen understands that significant work remains to be done. It wants to demonstrate the transformative power of business for change, making sustainability fashionable for the future.