If you had told Beyoncé at the start of 2020 that she would appear on the cover of British Vogue wearing an Alexander McQueen evening jacket inspired by the hearts carved into Welsh love spoons, she might not have believed you. But the December 2020 cover star has more in common with McQueen creative director Sarah Burton’s beloved cutlery than one might think. “The heart is a universal symbol of both strength and love,” Burton tells British Vogue. “Beyoncé is an icon who inspires both of those things in people of all ages around the world.”
The black wool-silk tailored jacket with trompe l’oeil layered lapels and sculpted heart sleeve drapes in red double duchesse satin is from the autumn/winter 2020 collection, for which Team McQueen journeyed to Wales to get the creative juices flowing. “We were inspired by its incredible artistic poetic heritage and its folklore and craft,” explains Burton of the brand’s fabled seasonal research trip. “This jacket symbolizes the juxtaposition of female power and sensitivity, with sleeves hand-draped in the studio to form exploded hearts. The body is strictly tailored, and the shoulders are sculptured, echoing the love spoons that we found in Welsh houses – traditional tokens of endearment exchanged by lovers ahead of marriage.”
The undulating sleeve drapery took several toiles to finesse, as the team consulted photographs of historical spoons and red-painted Welsh houses (to ward off evil) tacked to the McQueen mood-board. Burton found the striking contrast between the jet-black body and the blood-red sleeves on the final jacket disarming. “I had no idea how symbolic the color red was, with its symbolism of power, protection and healing, which all feel so essential for the times we live in today,” she shares.