The off-Broadway play House of McQueen will begin its run on 9 September, opening New York Fashion Week with drama instead of a catwalk.
New York Fashion Week will raise its curtain on 9 September with something rarely seen on its calendar: a theatre production. House of McQueen—an off-Broadway retelling of Lee Alexander McQueen’s life—will begin its official run that night, giving the week’s usual mix of runway and presentations an unexpected prologue.
Written by playwright Darrah Cloud and directed by Sam Helfrich, the two-hour piece follows McQueen from his South London upbringing to the collections that shook 1990s fashion. Rick Lazes serves as executive producer, while Gary James McQueen, the late designer’s nephew, acts as creative director, shaping scenes that move between the workroom and the runway.
Theatre has circled McQueen’s story for years. Dana Thomas’s 2015 biography laid a factual spine; Isabella Blow, the designer’s champion, will soon be portrayed by Andrea Riseborough in The Queen of Fashion. House of McQueen picks up that thread, aiming to connect a new crowd to the designer’s triumphs and turmoil.
Lazes admits the project has taken “a decade and twenty-six drafts” to land on its final script. The next hurdle is casting: finding leads who can switch from the designer’s sharp humour to the darker turns familiar to anyone who remembers his shows. Wardrobe duties fall to Kaye Voyce, an Obie-winning costume designer charged with translating McQueen’s precision to a live stage.
Though parent company Kering has kept its distance—after dropping “Alexander” from brand imagery last year, soon after creative director Sean McGirr arrived—the production will show genuine McQueen pieces nearby, on loan from private collectors. That display sits alongside the theatre, offering a footnote in fabric.
Previews start in August, but the 9 September premiere will mark the formal start of Fashion Week. It is a reminder that McQueen’s flair for narrative still commands attention, even when the catwalk gives way to a proscenium arch.
