"There was so much repression in London fashion. It had to be livened up."
For me, one of the most exciting aspects of fashion is pushing boundaries. Going beyond what is expected of you and your limits, making peoples' heads turn and changing the world. Alexander McQueen did exactly that.
Alexander McQueen started his immense career in fashion in 1985 with an apprenticeship with Savile Row tailors at the age of 16. The first designs at the V&A's incredible Savage Beauty exhibition show how important this training was for McQueen - through his knowledge of traditional tailoring he was able to deconstruct shapes and create unique cuts.
In the next room we are transported from the grey walls and these comparatively modest designs to McQueen's Romantic Gothic collection, which was inspired by 19th century Victorian gothic and combines horror and romance.
"I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress."
We are dared to respond to the question: is this aggressive or dark romantic? Perhaps it is neither. Personally, I am not offended by models in leather face masks and bondage straps but I do find the use of bizarre animal body parts and hair slightly extreme - although being a vegetarian I'm probably biased and I tried to overcome this by just looking through fashion eyes. Of course, this was just the warm up...
McQueen was driven by a fascination with the beauty and savagery of the natural world and this is seen at its most extreme in the Primitivism room. Individual alcoves made of skulls and bones, which reminded me of the Paris Catacombes, displayed designs made of anything from horse hair, leather and baby crocodile heads to wool and beads.
"I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists."
The Cabinet of Curiosities is arguably the centrepiece and you just don't know where to look first. In each cabinet there is an extravagant design, mad un-walkable shoes or a crazy headdress. On various TV screens there are clips from theatrical McQueen catwalk shows, which I just could not take me eyes off. I would love to go back and watch a show of his, they look out of this world. In the next small, dark room we experience something quite magical - the hologram ghost video of Kate Moss set to the music from Schindler's List from the finale of his Paris show in 2006.
Nature was McQueen's greatest influence so it is not surprising that he used raw materials found in the natural world in his designs. How incredible is this dress made from sea shells?! Probably not very comfortable but beautiful to look at! He also used real flowers that withered onto the catwalk, which is both beautiful and sad. Alexander McQueen's last fully realised collection before his tragic suicide in 2010 is called Plato Atlantis and was clearly inspired by nature, in particular, sea creatures.
The scale-like sequins, jelly fish motifs and metallic colours make up what is considered McQueen's greatest achievement. It is a tragedy that we lost such a talented fashion designer when he was at the top of his game and I am sure every fashion lover wonders where he would have taken us to next.
Go and visit Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the V&A, it is a must-see! The exhibition is on until 2nd August 2015 - get your tickets booked now!
Izzie x
Labels: alexander mcqueen, british, designer, exhibition, fashion, fbloggers, lifestyle, london, review, savage beauty, vanda
