Casgliadau Arlein

The December 2020 edition of British Vogue magazine, featuring a photograph of the singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter on the cover. She is wearing a jacket from the Alexander McQueen autumn-winter 2020 collection. The design of the jacket was inspired by a lovesoon from the Museum's collection (object 53.101.41).

The design team from Alexander McQueen, including creative director Sarah Burton, made several visits to St Fagans National Museum of History in late 2019/early 2020 to examine expamples of Welsh craft. Burton told Vogue magazine that she had been inspired by Wales and its "incredible artistic poetic heritage and its folklore and craft". Referring to the jacket worn by Beyoncé, she said: "This jacket symbolises 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 lovespoons that we found in Welsh houses – traditional tokens of endearment exchanged by lovers ahead of marriage... The heart is a universal symbol of both strength and love. Beyoncé is an icon who inspires both of those things in people of all ages around the world.”