ALEXANDER MCQUEEN___ MIND, MYTHOS, MUSE
Alexander McQueen is, without doubt, one of the greatest fashion designers to have emerged from the late 20th century. An ‘enfant terrible’, McQueen, or ‘Lee’ as he was known by friends, challenged the fashion world with his extraordinary collections (36 in total) that span from his first graduate show titled Jack the Ripper Stalks his Victims at St Martin’s College in 1992. While this memorable collection didn’t form part of the exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), titled Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, there was an extensive representation of McQueen’s talent, along with those creatives who also feature in this exhibition, including Los Angeles-based milliner Michael Schmidt, photographer Robert Fairer who collaborated with McQueen, and a number of shoes by local designers Preston Zly. So, at the moment prior to one stepping into this exhibition at the NGV, a collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), one experiences an adrenalin rush before the threshold is even crossed.
From the first garment exhibited, many of which are a collaboration with Sarah Burton, history and fashion speak to each other. The etching of The Temptation of Saint Anthony, circa 1635 by Jacques Callot, is in a display case at the foot of some of McQueen’s garments, with the etching providing inspiration for his 2010 collection – silk jacquards and, in one instance, a highly elaborate jacket with fish-scaled gold embroidery. McQueen found inspiration from listening to Turkish music and the Islamic community in London. His Spring/Summer collection shows a mannequin wearing a bejewelled headdress and a midriff top edged with coins worn with tapered trousers. One can almost sense the wearer performing a belly dance in a smokey London nightclub. And in a nod to Turkey’s past there’s an oil painting by artist Jozef Tominc titled Man in Ottoman Dress, circa 1830. While elaborate gowns are certainly eye candy for guests, there was also a good dose of McQueen’s humble upbringing (his father was a taxi driver) – including a more casual sweatshirt dress made from rayon that you might wear shopping, emblazoned with the Turkish flag.
In one gallery space, a marble sculpture from the first century BCE has a conversation with McQueen’s Neptune Collection that was unveiled in 2006. A simple gold chain expressed on an almost monastic A-lined shaped gown is only adorned with sequins spilling down the back. Reflected in the glass walls, it’s the perfect setting for McQueen’s more refined designs. But if the gowns and garments on display are powerful, so are the images and videos taken of the back of house in anticipation of the models causing a frenzy in the media the next day. Even McQueen’s graduate show, where the pale pink designs were infused with hair (evocative of Jack the Ripper’s horrendous murders in the late 19th century), McQueen was able to incite a reaction, including from Isabella Blow who became a loyal supporter, friend and muse. In 1999, for the finale of his collection, it was a seminal fashion moment when, instead of the bride closing the show, a model wearing a completely white puff ball-style dress was spray painted by two robots as she twirled. Instant art, and even more fame for the talented McQueen on his rise up the fashion world’s ladder. However, there were also moments such as the Dress Highland Rape Collection (1995) where the darling of the fashion world came head-to-head with the public and fashion media. Researching his Scottish family’s turbulent history, including the rape of women, one of the garments in this collection featured a ripped tear across one breast. While the many ideas explored in this exhibition push one to the edge, so does McQueen’s extraordinary technique, something that can be appreciated in garments from his Joan Collection of 1996, such as a finely beaded jacket showing the portraits of two girls from the Victorian period. As intriguing is Look Dress 11 from the Eshu Collection where a dress with fringes on the back shows a human face morphing into the face of a cat. And of course, the dress and headdress from the Girl Who Lived in the Tree Collection, circa 2008, is beyond description with the macrame tree-like hat by Schmidth defying gravity.
While each garment has a story and a connection to history, the displays in this exhibition are just as impressive – transforming you into McQueen’s world, one that tragically ended when he took his own life in February 2010. This writer was staying at the Standard Hotel in Chelsea at the time, a stone’s throw from his New York store. And, like others, I just knew that there will never be another Alexander McQueen – with this exhibition an important reminder of what fashion can be: a response to people’s emotions and taking them on a journey into uncharted territory.
The Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse exhibition is on until 16 April 2023 at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia.
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National Gallery of Victoria
LACMA
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Text by Stephen Crafti.
Images: Courtesy of the National Gallery of Victoria.
