Alexander McQueen- the hooligan of English fashion
From Mod Mania
Alexander McQueen- the hooligan of English fashion
- SUMMARY
Alexander McQueen created a fashion label under the management of the Gucci group in 2000 making Gucci the biggest stock owner in the label McQueen became popular right after he finished his Master’s degree at Central Saint Martins in London which his entire degree collection was famously bought by Isabella Blow, and ever since he has been on the map of the fashion world. Since his childhood and his early career, he has shown potential from his early years working at Saville row tailor, Anderson and Sheppard. He eventually then went to Milan to pursue his career and landed in Romeo Gigli as a design assistant. McQueen won British designer of the year four times. His gory principles and spectacular theatrics made him what he is now, and from his first collection until now, he has shown a great range of theatrical presentation in his runways. Major sporting houses such as Puma have been collaborating with him since spring 2006 beginning with the study of the human anatomy creating a shoe collection for men and women and his latest collaboration was with Samsonite, giving the brand a little edge on their luggage and bags.
Alexander McQueen who was formerly known as Lee McQueen has had a prominent role in the fashion industry for over a decade. He is famous for putting theatrics in his fashion shows. His recent major show featured a holographic presentation of Kate Moss dancing in the middle of the runway wearing his design. McQueen is also famous for his gory/fairytale/dark themes. And the reason why I chose to do a report on McQueen is because he is one of the avant-garde designers who have very original designs.
- What puts him on the map?
To begin with, There are so many designers working in the area of fashion around the world; however, just a few of them such as McQueen can leave a profound impression for people. And in the following, I am going to talk about the real reason which makes McQueen became so famous and the different parts of his works and theatrics.
- What makes McQueen became famous
After McQueen worked for Romeo Gigli, he returned to London in 1994, when he was 25 years old. And then he entered to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design which is a great fashion school in London. Then, while he completed his course, his graduation exhibition not only helped him get the Master degree of Fashion design, but was also appreciated by fashion stylist Isabella Blow.(BBC,2001) Alexander McQueen became a popular English fashion designer from then.
- The concepts
Alexander McQueen was born in a blue collar family, so he was influenced by street culture since he was young and then it easy to find this factor in his works. The other creative ideas are from the tailor technique that was learned in Saville Row. (BBC, 2001) By his unrestrained imagination, McQueen wins the people with interest worldwide.
- The style of Queens’ works
"The hooligan of English fashion”, “English bad boy” and “enfant terrible” are the labels that have been given to Alexander McQueen.The theatrics of McQueen was full of controversy in the early stages; including a pant named ‘Bumsters’ and a series design of ‘Highland Rape’. McQueen is just like a naughty boy in fashion. His design is totally different from haute couture. Because of his family background, he use a proletarian attitude in his design. So it is gloomy, dark, gorgeous and sexy in his style. The special nature of Alexander McQueen is because of an unrestrained and vigorous style that brims with talent. “I never think about living in the same world with Lagerfeld and even don’t want to be a flatter snob to fashion at the beginning.’’ Said McQueen.
- His works from beginning until now
Alexander McQueen became a famous designer and popular in London. In 1996, Alexander turned into a head designer at Givenchy which is a well-known brand in Paris. (BBC, 2001) From 1996 to 2001, he gained the title of “British designer of the year” three times. And in 2000, Gucci purchased 51％of Alexander McQueen’s own brand company. These two parts are the most important points in his fashion career. I’ll introduce his masterpieces in the following.
- First stages – Givenchy
Alexander McQueen’s fashion design is usually full of theatrical. The first fashion show he made for Givenchy used a myth troops with dignity for the main idea. He made use of shields plated with gold, dress up cupid arrow on wings and the knights wearing tight-fitting clothes. Next in 1998 he put the car robots which splashed paint on white cotton clothes and the amputation model walked down the catwalk on disorderly cut wooden legs in a show. He was building a new glaring fashion sight. But during the period in Givenchy, due to some reasons McQueen could not really follow his heart’s content to develop his ideas. So in March 2001, he left Givenchy. (BBC,2001 )
- Second stage – Gucci and McQueen
The chairman of Gucci said they really respect McQueen’s talent so they will expand McQueen’s company.This year, the topic of the recent fashion show is” Hunting witches” with an atmosphere which is dark and fantastic. The show was presented like a drama with the extemporaneous composing in the scene. The style of this show was filled with darkness and gruesomeness even the models have the scary electric saws on their faces. The show’s inspiration comes from one of McQueen’s distant relatives which was burned in 17th. McQueen, who has designed for the theatre clothes, is good at impressing people with the exaggerated makeup on models faces and colorful scenes. Never follow the rules, English bad boy by his unique imagination and unexpectedly ideas creates a fresh fashion in the fashion stage.
- Latest collection from his runway
Dark, luminous and thoughtful would be the words to describe his latest collection this fall in Paris. The use of leather and unnatural fabric such as mesh and stretch chiffon dominate most of the pieces this season. His collection this fall was inspired by his ancestor’s roots that dates back to 1692 when the Salem Witch trial occurred and coincidentally links this incident to his ancestor Elizabeth How. The audience was introduced by a projection of his rendition of the Salem witch trial, followed by the hard rock metal music that brought the models to the proscenium stage. The stage it self was covered in black sand and with a drawing or a pentagram using red sand which the models walk on. McQueen still keeps his signature of gory subjects to the catwalk, with a touch of story to every show that he’s done. This time he wants to put emphasis on the depression of life and how unhappy life can be. This collection surfaces a darker theme, judging by the whole presentation of the individual pieces that McQueen has worked on. Each look probably represents different emotions towards the gothic movement that he is portraying now.
In conclusion Alexander McQueen is one of the world’s biggest designers today; his works have shown creativity but most importantly originality. From the first runway he had which had been entirely bought by Isabella Blow who then became his patron, to his highly acclaimed collection and presentation just a couple of years after that which made him British designer of the year four times in less than a decade. Alexander McQueen has created a new genre in fashion, a mixture of gore, ambiguity, themes, heavy stitching, industrial aura, which can sometimes be very delicate. His recent collaborations with Puma and Samsonite have been highly acclaimed. McQueen is a true original designer where craftsmanship can be appreciated as a state of the art.
REFERENCES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/newsmarkers/1185798.stm
