Missing McQueen

I still think about Alexander McQueen a lot.

I probably think about Alexander McQueen way more than someone who never knew him and who has never worn his clothing (and probably never will) should.

Maybe it's silly, but I actually feel quite sad whenever I remember that he's gone and I think of how we'll never see all any the creations he would have made had he lived. And it's probably unfair, but I can't look at a new collection without thinking "but what would McQueen have done this season?", as if there was a specific trajectory in which his designs were going and it's impossible that Sarah Burton would be going in the same trajectory simply because she isn't McQueen.

Also, I can't even look at the skulls without wondering if he would've put them into retirement by now. I understand that they're probably the brand's moneymaker, but enough already. I can't help but think that he would have moved on to something else by now.

I still see his influence everywhere. I see it in on racks in shops like H&M and I see it in recent collections from designers like Givenchy and Prabal Gurung and Dolce & Gabbana.

The final collection by McQueen himself showed in 2010 (above), but the strength of his point of view is still resonating throughout fashion. That's some pretty amazing and powerful stuff.

Photos from style.com and target.com, video from showstudio.com.

McQueen Exhibit Recap

So the McQueen exhibit was amazing (obviously, understatement of the year, etc., etc.).



It was definitely bordering on overwhelming; there was just SO MUCH to look at and take in at once! And I was a little star-struck thinking about how McQueen himself had his hands on these pieces, some of which went on to belong to the late, great Isabella Blow and now Daphne Guinness. I was secretly hoping that by being in such close proximity to these works of art I could somehow absorb some of the amazing creative energy these people had/have. Unfortunately, all of the energy was probably being blocked and/or sucked up by that anciently old lady with the stool who insisted on wiggling her way through the crowd and planting herself directly in front of me no matter where I stood.

But I digress.

I love the way the exhibition was presented. It wasn't displayed chronologically - pieces from his graduate collection were interspersed with looks from more recent collections, tartans that first appeared in his second collection ("Highland Rape" F/W 1995/6) were placed next to ones from his "Widows of Culloden" collection (F/W 2006/7). When you saw these pieces side by side, they looked as though they could have been sent down the runway within the same show. I love how he revisited certain themes and silhouettes throughout his career. It all felt so cohesive and perfect, like a complete body of work (albeit one that was tragically cut very, very short).

One of my favorite rooms was called the "Cabinet of Curiosities" which showcased jewelry and hats and headpieces in a floor-to-ceiling cubbyhole-style arrangement. The decor was dark and the music was creepy and the videos looping on the screens scattered around the room were bordering on disturbing. It was perfect.

I was also very excited to see the hologram of Kate Moss from the end of the "Widows of Culloden" show. Something about the combination of her angelic, flowy dress and the sad music that was playing was really haunting.

Another awesome surprise was a room set up as a re-enactment of the Spring 2001 show. I like Tavi Gevinson's description:

Alexander McQueen's presentation for Spring 2001 with Michelle Olley. The space was a mirrored cube so that everyone in the audience had to get uncomfortable staring at themselves for over an hour before the lights inside the cube went up and the walls around this box in the middle came down and Michelle Olley was sitting there, a fat woman in a fashion show, moths and butterflies and tubes clinging to her. The models couldn't see out of the cube and walked around disoriented while Olley was just lying there. I think it's my favorite McQueen show. At the exhibit at the Met right now they show the video in a box complete with a mirror, it's completely mesmerizing.

The light in the box went off, leaving us all suddenly startled and staring at our own reflections. I was totally stunned right up until the point where a girl next to me took that opportunity to frantically wave her hands in the air in an attempt to get the attention of a member of her party who was at the back of the crowd. Way to ruin the moment, bozo.

In short, it was incredible. I wish I could go bakc and see it again, but the exhibit closes on 7 Aug and so that's not going to happen. I'd also would have liked to have had a private viewing, but at least I didn't have to wait in line for hours to get in.*

And of course, I had to bring home some swag:

photo and video source

Side story: As we were waiting in the horrifically long line to get in, two very generous souls who also happened to have a membership to the MET randomly picked a few of us out of line to skip the queue entirely and walk straight into the exhibit. I wanted to kiss their feet.

savage beauty

i'm so excited to see the alexander mcqueen exhibit at the metropolitan museum of art in nyc on saturday that i get really wibbly every time i think about it.

i first learned about mcqueen when i was working at a bookstore and found a promo postcard for one of david lachappelle's photography books. the postcard was an image of mcqueen in a giant dress standing in front of a burning castle with a torch. he looked bananas and it was weird but i liked it. the postcard itself was torn and folded and kind of beat up, but the image was so interesting that i kept it, and his name stuck with me.

i started following his work faithfully around 2006 when his "widows of culloden" collection came out (F/W 2006/7 RTW). it's still my favorite fashion collection of all time (with givenchy S 2011 CTR (birds and crustaceans!), viktor & rolf S 2010 RTW (sculptural tulle!), gareth pugh S 2011 RTW (bill and ted university!), mcqueen F/W 2010/11 RTW (hieronymus bosch!), christian dior S 2011 CTR (fashion illustration come to life!) and chanel S 2010 CTR (robobride of frankenstein 2050!) following closely behind. among others. i love everything, really). the moment i saw how brilliantly he mixed tartans and black lace, i was completely smitten.

the thing i like most about mcqueen, and what attracted me to him in the first place, was that his style and work made me slightly uncomfortable (the aforementioned bizarre postcard, the creepy as hell blow-up-doll lips of his F/W 2009/10 RW collection, etc.) and as a result, they caused me to consider the reasons why i felt that way.

there is always a debate over whether or not fashion can ever be anything more than superficial, and i think it can. i sincerely believe that at its best, it's a fine art just like painting or photography and so therefore it certainly has the ability to convey significant messages and speak about society, the past, present, future, religion, politics, and other sometimes controversial issues that deeply move people. why not? it doesn't always have to be simply about "looking pretty" (although admittedly, in some instances it's not much more than that).

in mcqueen's case, there has always been a lot of talk over whether or not his creations were anti-women, and i've always thought that idea was pretty ludicrous. this article from jezebel pretty much nails it:

But it takes a flat mind to conflate any reference to misogyny — if that's even the right word — with an endorsement of it.

Is a bloodied woman on a runway a critique of violence, or a glamorization of it? Is it an apolitical-but-tacky shock tactic? There are some who believe that it's not fashion's project to examine or refer to social issues — that it's essentially a frivolous industry that should stick to making nicer frocks and setting hemline trends.

i still get genuinely sad when i think about his suicide, when i consider both what kind of dark place he must've been in to commit such an act, and how we'll never get to see any more of his creations. sarah burton is clearly doing an amazing job upholding the honor of his legacy while still infusing her style in the new mcqueen collections, but we'll never know what new directions he may have gone in and what genius he may have created had he lived.

i can't wait to see pieces from a range of his collections all side by side and FEEL LOTS OF FEELINGS about it.

here are two videos of his "widows of culloden" collection, if you want to see his amazing work in action:





and this is a really great video about the headpieces from that collection, created by swarovski and philip treacy (who also designed princess beatrice's notorious royal wedding hat) from nowness: