If there’s one thing that Alexander McQueen isn’t, it’s simple. Theatrical? Yes. Epic? Often. Clean, clear, calm? Definitely not. And that was just the first surprise at what unfolded into a procession of amazingly good stuff. Realising that catwalk shows couldn’t convey his SS 10 work, he unpacked it in three ways; a film, a presentation room housing the clothes and a beautifully-made booklet with a personal letter from Lee himself. The latter was produced at 4 in the morning, first person, being unusually open about his life for such a big international designer. Reconnecting, rebooting and refuelling seems to have done him the world of good.

Because this was perhaps one of the most relevant McQueen menswear collections for a while. Turning backwards on the spectacles that made his name, this collection chopped up neatly into 3 distinctly wearable stories. First, a workwear thing that had perfectly cropped, washed pleated chinos, railroad jackets and  – next came the real surprise – paint. Yes, it’s been done before, but rarely in such a considered way. Deployed as a pattern rather than a texture, bright paint came splattered over raw denim shorts, smeared across the chest in a hand print. And then came whitewashed jackets, or blazers outlined in contrasting paint, plus a bonkers jacquard drip-print suit. A final story reassembled renaissance pictures in a kaleidoscope so they looked like patchwork. It shouldn’t have worked across tailoring, shirts and sneakers, but it did.

And then there’s the video that explained the collection and replaced this season’s show. It was shot by legendary photographer David Sims, with three screens depicting a crazed artist clad in nothing more than pants running down a hall, scrawling over himself and generally having a paint based breakdown. The clothes themselves were the artist’s wardrobe. But here he was naked. A nice synthesis. As for the general, impossible-to-ignore message? After so much bleakness, fun is back, choice is back, pursuing ideas just for the sake of it is back.  And to see one of fashion’s darkest, moodiest auteurs pull himself into the light has produced some stunning results.

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