The retrospective Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty Exhibition is coming to its final one month of showing. With time ticking away fast, ‘fashionistas’ around the globe are flocking to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to get a final glimpse of McQueen’s most coveted pieces spanning 20 years of his lifetime creation. Though only lived a short life, Lee Alexander McQueen had been widely recognized and touted as a talented genius whose craftsmanship is unprecedented in the fashion world.
Second from the left: “Bumster” trouser on display
Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, 1992
Voss, 2001
What is remarkable about McQueen was the fact that each one of his fashion shows was always a jaw dropping and theatrical mise en scène. Drawing inspiration far and wide, his MA graduate collection of Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims was triggered by his memory of living in London’s East End where Jack murdered a victim in his relative’s inn. In his Bellmer La Poupée S/S 97’ show, models treaded on a flooded catwalk to envisage the “Nazi theories of eugenics and Aryan ideals.” From his signature “bumster” trousers to emphasize the attractive waistline of a woman to his last show Plato’s Atlantis displaying 12-inch heel boots coated with animal prints, Lee purposefully designed clothes to empower women. His collection over the years might have sparked controversy, but we cannot deny him of one fact, that he should be applauded for his effort in making women more powerful in today’s male dominant world.
Picture credit: Victoria and Albert Museum London
