Kering confirmed on Thursday that Seán McGirr is leaving his post as creative director of Alexander McQueen after three years.

In a statement reported by Vogue and echoed across the pack, Kering CEO Luca de Meo thanked McGirr and said the group's ambition is "to establish a bold new direction for the house, building on its unique heritage of exceptional tailoring, uncompromising creativity and rebellion."

House president and CEO Gianfranco D'Attis praised McGirr for reconnecting the brand with London, its culture and its creative energy. McQueen says new creative leadership will be announced soon.

The timing is what makes the news striking.

FashionUnited notes McGirr's departure follows his first London runway show for the house in September — a homecoming framed as a reset for the brand under D'Attis — and The Zoe Report calls the move a surprise to many fans coming off a headline-making Spring 2027 show that the outlet says earned acclaim from house devotees, editors and critics alike.

L'Officiel Philippines points out the tenure ends less than a month after his final show, with his SS27 collection at Lincoln's Inn Chapel standing as his last runway statement.

The assessments of McGirr's three years differ sharply across outlets. W Magazine reports his collections never seemed to catch on with critics, social media or buyers, despite devil-horn-spiked wigs, plexiglass dresses and bumster jeans channeling the founder's rebellion.

Vogue's critics were also skeptical of the debut in a Paris warehouse, though Nicole Phelps later called his École des Beaux-Arts show more cohesive and commercially viable.

Behind the creative change sits a substantial restructuring.

Vogue reports Kering's April Capital Markets Day outlined plans to cut McQueen's store count by 50% by the end of 2026 versus 2025, with De Meo admitting the group had treated all brands the same way for a house that is "by nature a very niche, edgy, avant-garde" business.

Bernstein estimates cited by Vogue put the house's 2025 revenue below €200 million, down from a peak of about €850 million in 2022/2023. WWD adds De Meo's complaint that McQueen opened 135 stores worldwide and became overly reliant on sneakers that once represented 80% of its revenues.

The exit lands mid-way through an unusually busy reshuffle season. WWD reports the news came the same day Veronica Leoni's departure from Calvin Klein was confirmed, and just a week after Anthony Vaccarello left Saint Laurent after ten years, with his successor still unnamed.

FashionUnited notes the sequence has revived memories of 2025's great designer reshuffle, when more than 20 leading brands changed creative hands.

W Magazine frames the odd situation this way: the McQueen legacy is thriving — via Dilara Findikoglu's openly inspired label and Matières Fécales' talked-about Paris show — while the actual house struggles.

Both parties say the house will announce its next creative leader soon, and the successor's debut is expected to take place in London — D'Attis told Vogue Business in September, per Vogue, "We are very much committed to showing in London from here on."

McGirr, who joined in October 2023 after leading ready-to-wear at JW Anderson, says he leaves with "profound gratitude" for the studio, atelier and craftspeople and looks forward to his next chapter.

Kering publishes third-quarter earnings on October 22, when creative changes — including the Saint Laurent vacancy — are likely on the agenda.