Lee Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen was born in 1970 in the East End of London. At the age of 16 he began working with Savile Row Tailors, Anderson & Sheppard, not always behaving he was known for stitching alleged obscenities into one of Charles Jackets. He later on apprenticed with Koji Tatsuno in London, Romeo Gigli in Milan. He enrolled at London’s prestigious Central St. Martin, leading to graduation in 1992. His entire degree show was bought by influential stylist Isabella Blow. Alexander McQueen graced the scene in the 1990’s with his bad boy presence. He made many different impressions on many people being perceived as eccentric, edgy and of course brilliant. Building a solid reputation for his cutting edge collections and incredibly creative fashion shows. Some people felt as though his extreme productions were a distraction from the wearable clothing items that he had created.
“The of LVMH president, Bernard Arnault, controversially installed McQueen as John Galliano's successor at Givenchy in 1996.” In 1997, Alexander McQueen replaced chief designer John Galliano at Givenchy. Although McQueen’s first collection for Givenchy, and some following, were torn apart by the press he continued to work with the workman staff of Givenchy, and learned a lot. This combination proved to be more than workable, and he stayed with the house till March 2001. In early 2001 Gucci Group had purchased 51% of McQueen, this indicated a possibly to replace Tom Ford at Gucci, however the association with LVMH ended poorly and this did not happen. Alexander McQueen continued to show his signature collections, later opened many signature boutiques were opened and he introduced his fragrance in 2003 and My Queen in 2005. He created designs, for puma and Samsonite, followed by him then creating a secondary line called McQ, including a menswear range. “McQueen won the British Fashion Awards' British Designer of the Year four times and won the Men's Wear Designer of the Year award in 2004. In 2003, he received the CFDA Award for Best International Designer and was honored with a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the fashion industry.” On February 11 2010, Lee Alexander McQueen was found dead in his apartment having had committed suicide. In recent times before this very unfortunate incident, Lee had been quoted saying “This is the birth of a new dawn. There is no way back for me now. I am going to take you on journey’s you’ve never dreamed were possible.” Looking back on the events, many wonder if they should have seen this coming. A very inspirational man and favourite of many. The Gucci group continued to fund the Alexander McQueen Label. His assistant Sarah Burton of 15 years, continued to design for the label and is doing a remarkable job creating extravagant, perfect pieces that represent the house flawlessly.
Lee Alexander McQueen Creativity and Approach From him MA Graduation collection in 1992, to his posthumous collection in 2012 this designer was always causing emotional reactions in others. The extravagant reactions McQueen provoked changed year to year between tears of frustration over choices of venues to tears of joy over remarkably beautiful collections and productions. A bad boy, obsessed with the emotion of love, throughout his career his collections had a romantic naturalism to them, were always expressing individualism and he was constantly inspired by post -modern present. The 19th century was an interest of his, a very ‘Victorian Gothic’ feel was present in multiple collections, other dark romantic, “shadowy fancies” with an Edgar Allan Poe vibe were very present in notable collections such as “Donte”- A/W 1996/97 and “Supercalifragilistic” A/W 2002/03. Other recognizable inspirations of McQueen was the contrast of goods/evils heavens/hells, as well as the importance of his Scottish roots.“Typically Mqueen’s collections were fashion around elaborate narratives that were profoundly autobiographical, often reflecting upon ancestral, Scottish heritage. “ Influential people and work to Alexander McQueen’s included the writings of Jean Jacques Rousseau, art by Eugene Delacroix, music by Ludwig Van Beethoven and literature by Lord Byron. These inspirations of many were optimized through his collections.
Womenswear mainline catwalk collections: 1992 Graduate Collection - Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims Autumn/Winter 1993 - Taxi Driver Spring/Summer 1994 - Nihilism Autumn/Winter 1994 - Banshee Spring/Summer 1995 - The Birds Autumn/Winter 1995 - Highland Rape Spring/Summer 1996 - The Hunger Autumn/Winter 1996 - Dante[134] Spring/Summer 1997 - Bellmer La Poupee Autumn/Winter 1997 - It's A Jungle Out There Spring/Summer 1998 - Untitled (Originally The Golden Shower) Autumn/Winter 1998 - Joan Spring/Summer 1999 – No.13 Autumn/Winter 1999 - The Overlook Spring/Summer 2000 - Eye Autumn/Winter 2000 - Eshu Spring/Summer 2001 - Voss Autumn/Winter 2001 - What A Merry-Go-Round Spring/Summer 2002 - The Dance of The Twisted Bull Autumn/Winter 2002 - Supercalifragilistic Spring/Summer 2003 - Irere Autumn/Winter 2003 - Scanners Spring/Summer 2004 - Deliverance Autumn/Winter 2004 - Pantheon as Lecum Spring/Summer 2005 - It's Only a Game
Autumn/Winter 2005 - The Man Who Knew Too Much Spring/Summer 2006 - Neptune[145] Autumn/Winter 2006 - The Widows of Culloden Spring/Summer 2007 - Sarabande Autumn/Winter 2007 - In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692 Spring/Summer 2008 - La Dame Bleue[147] Autumn/Winter 2008 - The Girl Who Lived In The Tree Spring/Summer 2009 - Natural Dis-tinction Un-natural Selection Autumn/Winter 2009 - The Horn of Plenty Spring/Summer 2010 - Plato's Atlantis Autumn/Winter 2010 - Angels & Demons (Unofficially titled)
Menswear mainline catwalk collections:
Autumn/Winter 2004 - Textist
Spring/Summer 2005 - Untitled
Autumn/Winter 2005 - Untitled
Spring/Summer 2006 - Killa
Autumn/Winter 2006 - Untitled
Spring/Summer 2007 - Harlem
Autumn/Winter 2007 - The Forgotten
Spring/Summer 2008 - Please, Sur
Autumn/Winter 2008 - Pilgrim
Spring/Summer 2009 - Love You
Autumn/Winter 2009 - The McQueensbury Rules
Spring/Summer 2010 - An Alexander Film Directed by David Sims
Autumn/Winter 2010 - An Bailitheor Cnámh
A little information on selected collections by Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 1994 Nihilism- Based on a Masai inspired dress made of materials the Masai could never afford. Famous for the latex dress with locusts, a statement on famine.
Autumn/Winter 1995-1996 Highland Rape – First collection to introduce McQueens tartan clothing which was shown on semi-naked models which were strewn with heather +bracken . A very controversial collection.
Autumn/Winter 2000 – Eshu- This collection is well-known for deity of Yoruba Mythology, stand out pieces include a coat made out of black synthetic hair. Many fantasising and fetish materials.
Spring/Summer 2001- Voss- Models in this collection were trapped in a box, number of exotic garments. This collection was inspired by the famous Joel Peter Witkins photograph. This extravagant production by Alexander McQueen was very avant-garde and a personal favourite of mine.
Spring/Summer 2003- Irere – This collection was featured on romantic primitivism, another one of McQueens constant emotional inspirations that are shown throughout his collections. This production is based on a shipwreck at sea, people with pirates, conquistadors and Amazonian Indians. What was said by Sarah Burton to be the most beautiful dress created was a piece in this collection.
Spring/Summer 2005 – Only A Game- This collection was inspired by a scene in the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The models displayed the beautiful pieces of the collection on a life size chess board.
Autumn/Winter 2008- The Girl Who Lived in a Tree – McQueen expresses his deep interest in the history of England. This collection was very dreamy and fairytale inspired. Stunning garments where the interest in England was extremely apparent.
Spring/Summer 2010- Plato’s Atlantis – this collection was McQueen’s final finished collection. “Darwins theory of evolution in reverse.” The very ambitious concept of an “apocalyptic forecast of the future ecological meltdown of the world: Humankind is made up of creatures that evolved from the sea, and we may be heading back to an underwater future as the ice cap dissolves.” Executed flawlessly, this collection with the help of technology was executed in a very futuristic manner. The expression of nature through his collection was stunning.
Lee Alexander McQueen is a Fashion Legend; he is missed deeply by many. His contributions to the fashion world are life changing and inspiring. With the current director of the house of McQueen, Sarah Burton, doing a remarkable job of representing the fashion house we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to view new and innovative collections each season.