Fashion Rebels: Memento mori or the Gothic haute-couture by McQueen

The essence of dramatic beauty

According to media reports, more than 480,000 tickets were sold for the unique exhibition that cost three million pounds to stage. It was the most popular show ever presented in Victoria and Albert’s museum, the world’s largest one of decorative arts and design. “Savage Beauty”, as it was named, met with such huge demand that V&A opened overnight for the first time in its history. The collection featured pieces by Alexander McQueen in materials varying from wool to feathers and shell, from his degree show pieces to his works as an international celebrity designer.

The author of the extraordinary collection was an Englishman who left school at the age of 16 to find himself in a clothes-making industry. He found work on Savile Row, a prestigious street in London’s Mayfair district known for its bespoke men’s suits. He was so successful that, even back then, his clientele included such names as Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. He also cooperated with theatrical costume designers Angels and Bermans, who had an enormous impact on his dramatic style as an independent fashion designer.

“The collections at the V&A never fail to intrigue and inspire me,” he once said. „The nation is privileged to have access to such a resource.”

During his career he was frequently inspired by historic silhouettes from the 17th-19th centuries and also by Dior’s “New Look” from 1947, but particularly he admired the Victorian Gothic. He also worked in Italy and after returning to London applied to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design to work as a pattern cutter tutor.  His 1992 graduation collection was so impressive that all pieces were bought by international style icon and eccentric Isabella Blow, who became his sincere friend and the supporter of his works.

After obtaining the degree, he was a confident tailor and an alchemist with textiles. It’s no wonder that such a gifted man would decide to start his own business making women’s wear. His pants with the extremely low-cut waistline, called “bumster”, were enormously successful. Just four years after design school, McQueen was named Chief Designer of Louis Vuitton-owned Givenchy.

It was a very prestigious appointment, but he said, “I treated Givenchy badly. It was just money to me. But there was nothing I could do: the only way it would have worked would have been if they had allowed me to change the whole concept of the house, to give it a new identity, and they never wanted me to do that.” Despite his limitations, McQueen won British Designer of the year in 1996, 1997 and 2001. All those achievements were during his time as Chief Designer at Givenchy.

McQueen became famous for his extravagancy and dramatic catwalks that, together with his inspiration by the art styles from previous eras, gave shocking results. The designer was fascinated by the works of seventeenth-century Dutch woodcarver Grinling Gibbons, who was producing amazing pieces for churches and palaces. McQueen hired Bob Watts of Dorset Orthopaedic and professional carver Paul Ferguson to create a pair of wooden prosthetic legs for paralympic athlete and double amputee Aimee Mullins to wear in his show No. 13, Spring-Summer 1999. McQueen was also one of the first designers to invite Indian models on his shows and to live stream the runways on the Internet giving the outside audience a front row experience.

Despite his eternal creativity and visual development, there are some dark Gothic symbols that have become heavily associated with McQueen’s creative world and brand, the skull motif being one of them, the symbol of death representing the transience of bodily strength and beauty.

“It is important to look at death because it is a part of life,” said McQueen. „It is a sad thing, melancholy but romantic at the same time. It is the end of a cycle – everything has to end. The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things.”

His very last collection took place on 8 March 2010, less than a month after his suicide. It was the dark beauty of Gothic fairytales, but, as the final statement of McQueen’s fashion house said, „Each piece is unique, as was he.”