McQueen Alexander is most notably known as the genius of various tailoring techniques. He has
audaciously set a different fashion stage in England, where his outlandish fashion shows have
brought energy and attention to a fairly quiet and conservative fashion market. The last extreme
attention London received was back in the 1960s when Mary Quant entered with the mod look.
McQueen's clothes are beautiful and wearable, but he receives most of his attention for his
outrageous personality and vibrant character. He is a designer with the stamina to pursue and
conquer the world of fashion; by the dawn of the 21st century , McQueen was a fashion icon in
the making. He is also known for having worked as chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to
2001 and for founding his own label under the name Alexander McQueen. His first couture
collection with Givenchy was unsuccessful, with even McQueen telling Vogue in October 1997
that the collection was "crap". McQueen toned down his designs at Givenchy, but continued to
indulge his rebellious streak, causing controversy in autumn 1998 with a show which included
spraying paint over white cotton dresses and double amputee model Aimee Mullins striding
down the catwalk on intricately carved wooden legs. Givenchy designs released by Vogue
Patterns during this period may be credited to the late designer.
According to Alexander McQueen Working at Givenchy was fundamental to my career . . .
Because I was a tailor, I didnt totally understand softness, or lightness. I learned lightness at
Givenchy. I was a tailor at Savile Row. At Givenchy I learned to soften. For me, it was an
education. As a designer I could have left it behind. But working at Givenchy helped me learn
my craft.
At Givenchy he designed a beautiful piece called the Oyster Dress, which is made up of
hundreds and hundreds of layers of silk organza, almost like a mille-feuille pastry . As a garment
it marks the beginning of McQueens interests in achieving softness and lightness through
draping. Alexander McQueens Oyster dress, first seen on the catwalk of his Spring/Summer
2003 Irere collection based on the theme of shipwreck, was showpiece a that has withstood the
test of time . Yet despite its ethereal appearance, the asymmetric dress is a sartorial ruin and
possesses a macabre quality. At the fashion show, where the dress first appeared, the bedraggled
hair and smeared eye-make-up of the model did much to confirm the juxtaposition of lightness
and deathly immersion.
McQueen, as well as being a fashion designer, art-directed many photo shoots, he art-directed
many films, and this film formed the backdrop to the collection Irere that told the story of a
shipwreck at sea and a subsequent landfall in the Amazon. And it was peopled with characters
like pirates, conquistadors, and Amazonian Indians. The contemporary fashion press linked the
dress to the Seasons Pirate inspired trend and alternately described it as dark and a fairy style.
The pearl white fabric is delicately draped with hundreds of layers in a pattern much like an
oyster or scallop shell. There also is a strange, mystical sense that the draped figure is
underwater, so that part of the upper dress seems to float like bleached seaweed taking a free ride
on the Gulfstream. The entire composition takes on a contrapposto stance reminiscent of a Greek
marble sculpture, but this one seems to move. Emerging from the background McQueens video
of an underwater swimmer, the dress evoked the birth of a 21st century Venus - a bruised pearl
who had survived a storm-tossed voyage.
This is a dress that evokes Mother Nature's protective and nurturing side, as well as her ferocity
and ability to wreak havoc. It is hard to imagine the number of human hours it took to delicately
hand-cut all those ruffles. Eye-witnesses say McQueen was a genius at cutting fabric directly on
a mannequin.
REFERENCES
Pantelides, K. (n.d.). Fashion & Ethereality. Retrieved January 09, 2012, from Fashion arts:
http://www.fashion.arts.ac.uk
Reamy, D. W. (2011). Fashion Designer Encyclopedia - Alexander Mcqueen. Retrieved January
09, 2012, from Fashion Encyclopedia: http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com
Savage beauty. (2011, August 07). Retrieved January 09, 2012, from The Metropolitan Museum
of Art: http://blog.metmuseum.org