One of the most influential male designers to bless the fashion industry was the late Lee Alexander McQueen. Fusing impeccable tailoring, historical inspiration, nature and emotionalism, McQueen’s work was autobiographical and made to be intense. McQueen himself once stated, “I don’t want to do a cocktail party, I’d rather people left my shows and vomited. I prefer extreme reactions.” His designs were never on trend, if not, they created trends – for example, the “bumster” that led to the early 2000s trend of wearing low-rise pants. McQueen humored both young and mature audiences, and quickly became one of the most sought-after designers for his dynamic pieces. The British designer’s shows were characterized by the use of shock tactics, theatricality, and extravagance. Here are five shows that were able to show the world just how genius McQueen really was.
Jack the Ripper Stalks his Victims (1992)
McQueen’s interest in the macabre could be seen from the beginning of his career. McQueen’s graduation collection from the elite British fashion school, Central Saint Martins, was inspired by Jack the Ripper. The collection pays homage to 19th century sex workers and clothing relevant to the era. As were most of his collections, McQueen had a connection to Jack the Ripper – he grew up in London’s East End, where the crimes were committed, and one of McQueen’s relatives even rented a room to one of Ripper’s victims. For labels, McQueen sewed a lock of his hair between two layers of acrylic, referencing to when Victorian prostitutes would sell their hair. In this collection McQueen began establishing certain signatures of his work: his love of history, tailoring, collaboration, the dark and gory, and insane garment construction.
Highland Rape (A/W 1995)
Highland Rape can easily be considered one of McQueen’s most scandalous shows. Many critics thought the collection romanticized the abuse and exploitation of women, but McQueen completely denied this. The inspiration for the collection was “England’s rape of Scotland” – McQueen was tired of designers romanticizing Scotland which he saw in a much colder light due to studying the country’s history and their series of issues with England. The designs consisted of lace motifs, low cut tops and low-rise bottoms, and clothing tattered and torn. Although the show was seen in a dark light, it was thanks to Highland Rape that McQueen would later be chosen as John Galliano’s successor at Givenchy. Not only that, but the collection displayed the designer’s potential and ability to translate history and metaphor into modern design.
Dante (A/W 1996)
Dante was one of the most well received McQueen shows by the press and buyers. The collection was staged at Christ Church Spitalfields in East London – a building designed by Nicholas Hawsmoor, a known Satanist. The church was transformed into a completely different ambiance, with a crucifix shaped runway, skeletons sitting next to the guests and dramatic organ music. The show was inspired by war photojournalist Dan McCullen and Gustav Dore’s illustrations based on Dante’s Inferno; it was a commentary on war and religion. The clothing consisted of razor sharp tailoring, sheer cut out sheath dresses, extravagant fur coats, jacket dresses, of course with the traditional McQueen twist of Victorian elements, animalistic headpieces, nudity, the macabre and romantic. Dante is considered the show that transitioned McQueen from a well-known British designer to being loved and admired internationally.
La Poupée (S/S 1997)
La Poupée was presented on a 100-foot catwalk covered in water, inspired by the surrealist German artist Hans Belmer who deconstructed and reconstructed dummies to look like distorted dolls. McQueen was inspired by this and had the idea of making his models look like distorted, doll-like puppets. Models walked down the runway in shimmering sheer dresses, with pieces tailored in order to contort the model’s body and face. They used accessories that restricted and changed the body, like long nails, spikey headpieces, and cage-like contraptions. Like many of his shows, La Poupée was incredibly controversial due to one of the contortion accessories worn by black model Debra Shaw – McQueen stated that the piece was meant to make Shaw move in a mechanical, unnatural way, like a puppet, but it was hard for critics to ignore the obvious connotations of slavery. The finale had a model walk with a revealing dress under a translucent box with butterflies trapped inside. The show gained both positive and negative attention, thanks to McQueen’s exquisite tailoring and unique dresses, but was judged due to the shock tactics used.
Joan (A/W 1998)
Joan was one of the most visually intense McQueen shows, from the use of fire and menacing models. As the name suggests, the show was inspired by the murder of Joan of Arc. but also, of the murder of the Romanov children. The models wore red contacts, peroxide blonde wigs without eyebrows. The clothing consisted of medieval motifs, chainmail dresses, tartan print, lace, and a color palette of red, black, and silver. Themes of martyrdom, murder, violence, and power prevailed. The models, dressed in armor, chainmail and ensembles made to look like dripping blood, had a strong and fearless silhouette. The show finale was theatricality to a level never seen before – the model, wearing a beaded red dress covering her face, was surrounded by a ring of fire to reference Joan of Arc being burned at the stake.
Thanks to these collections, Alexander McQueen became a respected and admired household name with worldwide fame. McQueen loved mixing the grotesque and the beautiful, making his own unique creation easily recognized as a McQueen piece. The designer’s interest in history, art, the ugly and unknown made him and his designs into something the late 90s had never been introduced to before. McQueen was one of the first designers to make something bleak and macabre into something beautiful and trendy – he had the ability to make people really think about what they were seeing, and talk about him and his art, which hasn’t stopped even ten years after his death.