There are not many designers in any generation with the ability to do what McQueen did, which is marry epic imagination with mind-blowing technical skill. He was a designer with an eye to what was next.
What will be forever synonymous with the name Alexander McQueen was his inability to compromise on anything. His collections repeatedly showed exquisite tailoring, paired with feminine romance and wearability with the cutting edge of high fashion. It was enviable assemblage that has emblazoned the name of Alexander McQueen into any self-respecting Fashionistas consciousness over the past 15 years.
Since his graduation show from St. Martins in 1995 he soared to the dizzying heights of haute couture world. What was the secret of his success? Well, as alexandermcqueen.com so perfectly described, it is the blend of these things: ‘Fragility and strength, tradition and modernity and fluidity and severity.’
Take, for example, McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2006 runway show, entitled ‘The Widows of Culloden’. McQueen here was taking inspiration from his own heritage, referencing the infamous and bloody battle fought at Culloden in Scotland. Fiercely political and emotionally raw, it set the stage perfectly as the collection that really made McQueen’s name. It was a very British affair and one that had a message; that perhaps the medium of fashion that was once thought of as vapid could have something relevant and poignant to say about a nation’s history and people.
It is perhaps because of McQueen’s strong political statements in his shows that earned him the title of the perennial bad boy of British fashion. Indeed you only need to glance at his most recent collection to see this.
McQueen’s brand of fashion was playful, confrontational and unforgettable; it is one that took you by the scruff of the neck, made sure you looked it in the eye, and once you’d seen it, you would not want to stop looking.
R.I.P Alexander Lee McQueen 1969 – 2010
