Sarah Burton has been busy as a bee for her spring Alexander McQueen collection. So much so that, as it turned out, bees were the central theme. Why not? They meet all the requirements to be a McQueen inspiration: they’re misunderstood; they can be dangerously aggressive (especially the Africanized variety); and they exist in a fragile balance (hives are mysteriously disappearing all over the world). Yet despite all that, they make sweet, sweet honey. That’s so McQueen, right?

Like a good beekeeper, most of the body was covered or addressed in some way. Jacquard jackets with a honeycomb motif stood away from the body, netting took the role of stockings and extended down most of the leg, while honey-colored (more amber) plastic resin bracelets, belts and extra-wide chokers kept those sensitive areas protected.

Over the course of the show, the resin belts were replaced by corset boning, which grew larger and, combined with whole dresses made out of a colorful lightweight netting, took on a gothic Gone With the Wind quality. Last season’s accessory, meanwhile, those giant metallic eye-visors that appeared in better editorials everywhere, crept up the face and turned into grieve-worthy black bonnets with a veil of netting all around.