Alexander McQueen's final collection. Autumn/Winter 2010.

Only a very select few were given the honour of viewing McQueen's last ever collection in person, which was shown in an 18th-century mansion during Paris Fashion Week. Although it was completed by his team, a spokesperson assured everyone that the 16 piece collection (an extremely small collection by any standards) was around 80% complete at the time of McQueen's death. It was stated that he had drawn the patterns, chosen the fabrics and made the cuts - basically we were assured that it was all his own work.

All unfortunate circumstances aside, let's focus on the clothes, because they were nothing short of phenomenal:

I love this; very bold, very McQueen.

This is just perfection. So angelic, so elegant, so perfect.

I love this too. It's just amazing beyond words.

This coat is apparently made entirely from feathers individually dipped in gold-leaf. Just incredible.

I know it sounds like I'm fully just jumping on the bandwagon, but seriously this is one of my absolute favourite McQueens collections to date, I love the theme; I love the drama and the extravagance and the elegance of it all - it's so regal, so ethereal, so beautiful. I think it's just such a terrible shame that we lost such a great talent so young when he had so much more to give, so much more to live for. I really hope that, if nothing else, people learn from this. He had such amazing vision, he always stood out among high fashion designers as the one who pushed boundaries, he was at the top of his field, he just had so so much to live for. Always original, always unique; this ready-to-wear collection was more like couture which is why it will not be going on sale (all the pieces are so intricate and unique that they would have had to have been made-to-order for individual customers) but it will go on loan to a select few fashion magazines for shoots.

According to a statement released by the company, the Alexander McQueen brand will carry on for now with his design team running the show. A replacement head designer is yet to be announced but it seems likely that it will be his longtime assistant, Sarah Burton, which seems like a very fitting honour and the perfect way to make sure that the brand retains McQueen's vital influence.

More soon.
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All catwalk photos from Style.com