Mighty McQueen...
30 March 2015 by Will Eagles
Without a doubt one of thee most influential, iconic fashion greats ever is the mighty Lee Alexander McQueen… His creative genius is beloved the world over and the fashion world mourned his death five years ago. The Victoria and Albert museum retrospective of the career of Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty , began its life at the Metroploitan Musuem of Art in New York, where it was a huge hit. Expanded and edited to talk a little more to the city where the designer (1969-2010) was born and learned his craft, it arrived in London last week and I have been lucky enough to visit the exhibition. I was wandering its rooms almost listlessly, as if under a spell. So great was my fascination that there were points when I just fell silent and in awre of my surroundings….
Alexander McQueen has been a huge inspiration to me and I couldn’t let this week go by without sharing my experience of Savage Beauty. McQueen started his career serving an apprenticeship with Saville Row tailors. The skills learned helped him learn him a reputation in the fashion world as an expert in creating an impeccably tailored look. After learning his craft he then went on to enrol at Central Saint Martins in London and it was here that the late Issabella Blow and Katy England, both major fashion players took him under their wing and spawned the creative fashion genius. Alexander went on to create early runway collections that developed his reputation for controversy and shock tactics.
Mc Queen went on to be chief designer at French label Givenchy, founding his own label Alexander McQueen and earning himself four British Designer of the Year Awards and International Designer of the year too. In later catwalk shows his lavish, unconventional, creative side came into play and his shows saw a human chess game, and a life sized hologram of supermodel Kate Moss dressed in yards of rippling fabric as a ghostly apparition.
So with McQueen being inspirational to so many people in the fashion and hair industry this retrospective of his work is truly amazing. From the Kate Moss hologram to the fierce feathers, tottering “armadillo” shoes and the reproduction of model Shalom Harlow being sprayed with paint by robots it all tells the story of McQueen’s creativity. The incredible pieces of clothing and curiosities combined with inserts of videos of the unforgettable shows it is a long standing legacy of what Alexander McQueen stood for…
Long reign Mc Queen…