Remembering McQueen: An Ode To L'Enfant Terrible
It's not too bold a statement to say that Lee Alexander McQueen - l’enfant terrible and the hooligan of English fashion - was one of the most avant-garde designers the fashion industry has seen. Without a doubt his provocative and extraordinary designs stood out every season and still are central to fashion students' research moodboards. McQueen inspired designers to be daring and to explore the deepest realms of their creativity, no matter how dark. Yesterday marked the 10 year anniversary of McQueen’s legendary S/S 10 show Plato's Atlantis in Paris, the last before his passing in February 2010.
The visionary designer’s Plato’s Atlantis saw the debut of the instantly recognisable Armadillo boots and Lady Gaga’s single Bad Romance. The show was to be live-streamed by SHOWstudio, and intercut with remade video footage by Nick Knight, until 30 minutes before the show when Gaga tweeted that McQueen was about to première her new single, resulting in a million Little Monsters (Gaga’s affectionately named fans) crashing the SHOWstudio website.
The world’s first live-streamed fashion show, Plato’s Atlantis, was an otherworldly experience even before opening model Magdalena Frackowiak stepped out and changed the landscape of fashion forever. No wonder the show was described by Vogue critic Suzy Menkes as ‘the most dramatic revolution in 21st century fashion'. The collection presented a narrative that centred on the devolution of mankind through an alien-like digitally printed dystopia. Two robotically-armed cameras moved along the catwalk, capturing the human-animal-alien hybrids from all angles, against a backdrop of a video of model Raquel Zimmerman appearing to mutate into a semi-aquatic creature, writhing in sand and covered by vibrantly coloured snakes.
Leaving behind a captivating body of work spanning more than two decades, Lee Alexander McQueen remains one of the most influential creative minds of all time, his work inspiring so many and addressing topics that are still as relevant as ever. In honour of the longevity of his artistic vision, SHOWstudio looks back on some of the most memorable McQueen moments.
Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims - McQueen's 1992 graduate collection from Central Saint Martins - was just an inking of what was to come from his darkly-inclined, untamed imagination. It was immediately bought in full by fashion stylist and soon-to-be friend Isabella Blow who helped him launch his career.
With his second post-graduate collection, McQueen stunned the world with his outrageously low-cut trousers in Nihilism for Spring/Sunmer 94. A torso-elongating design cut significantly low on the hip; here McQueen seemed to re-imagine the proportions of the body, slashing trousers down almost to the pubic bone and coccyx. So controversial was this design, it garnered reams of publicity and would be a defining moment of his career for years to come. These 'Bumsters' were later included in many collections, such as the Autumn/Winter 95 show Highland Rape (more on that later), and went on to inspire high street fashion through the subsequent trend for low-rise trousers.
In an interview with The Guardian the designer observed, 'It wasn’t about showing the bum... I wanted to elongate the body, not just the bum. To me, that part of the body – not so much the buttocks, but the bottom of the spine – that’s the most erotic part of anyone’s body, man or woman.'
As in the Alexander McQueen V&A tome, Fashion historian Judith Watt explained that the trouser produced a silhouette that was half-borrowed from gay pornography (the elongated torso of both the boy and the body-builder) and half from the wardrobe of the Renaissance prince (where the top of the breeches hung low on the pelvis and all focus fell on the crotch), but yet succeeded in presenting a new model of sexual desirability for women.
McQueen fearlessly challenged conventions of fashion and saw beyond clothing’s physical constraints to its conceptual and imaginative possibilities. The notorious and controversial Highland Rape collection for Autumn/Winter 1995 saw blood-streaked models in shredded tartan dresses stumble down the runway. The collection was inspired by the ethnic cleansing of British Forces in the Scottish Highlands in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, revealing McQueen’s strong ancestral pride.
Further capitalising on his fast-built reputation for extraordinary catwalk shows/performances, McQueen's Spring/Summer 1999 presentation was an unforgettable spectacle. One of his most moving collections, both figuratively and literally, the show finale saw model Shalom Harlow emerge on a revolving wooden platform wearing a white strapless dress. Harlow proceeded to twirl slowly whilst two industrial robots sprayed her with black and yellow paint, bringing the creation to life whilst the audience looked on, mouths agape. The show also saw double amputee Aimee Mullins walk the runway on intricately carved wooden prosthetic legs.
When Kate Moss appeared in holographic form on the Autumn/Winter 06 Alexander McQueen runway, once again the worlds’ jaws dropped. The Widows of Culloden saw a puff of white smoke appear inside an empty glass pyramid, transforming into the image of Moss, enveloped in a mesmerising display of cascading white organza ruffles.