Following the design concept for the house, conceived by creative director Sarah Burton in collaboration with the architect Smiljan Radic, the first Alexander McQueen flagship store in Canada is home to women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories.

Drawing on a fascination with nature that underpins the core values of the house of Alexander McQueen, the main material employed is wood: oak and walnut, light and dark. This appears on floors and walls, intricately engineered to fit the space, with seams barely visible, knitted together, echoing the signatures central to the Alexander McQueen name.

Experimentation is prized: a new cladding – ‘cottoncrete’ – a cotton-based papier mâché, has been developed for the space. Changing rooms are located in glass cylinders lined with fabric taken from artwork designed by the Alexander McQueen studio in London.

In tandem with the opening of the first Canadian flagship store, Alexander McQueen opens a pop-up dedicated entirely to The Curve bag at Yorkdale Shopping Centre from December 2nd to the 23rd.

A strong and modern piece, with its instantly recognisable harness detailing, The Curve is a new pillar of the house of Alexander McQueen. Conceived by creative director Sarah Burton, the store is crafted principally in wood, intricately engineered to fit the spaces, each based around a perfect square. Large digital screens displaying kaleidoscopic moving imagery draw customers into the space: triggered by visitors, content morphs between abstract compositions and references to the natural world.