Inspired by the murders of Joan of Arc and of the Romanov family, Alexander McQueen’s Fall 1998 show took on a dark, sinister feeling. Models had peroxide blonde hair worn in medieval-inspired styles (sans eyebrows), and sported blood-red contact lenses. The collection itself was very tough; tailored, sequined, patterned with prints of the Romanov children. In keeping with the Joan of Arc theme, several models wore dresses of chainmail, and the color palette featured blood red, black, and silver. His signature tartan was present, and the red lace dress covering the face was worn by Lady Gaga at the MTV awards a decade later. There were even pieces of armor, as shown above in the fourth figure. It was the finale of the show, however, that would garner the most attention. The final model, wearing a beaded red dress that covered her face, was encircled in a ring of fire (a direct reference to Joan of Arc, who was burned a the stake). She writhed and moved around as the fire grew.
“The finale of this particular collection involved a woman walking down the runway styled like molten ash that has solidified. And at the end of it, she had centered herself on the catwalk and a ring of fire sprung up around her. The collection itself had many references to Joan of Arc—garments that were made out of chainmail, but also garments inspired by menswear. Joan of Arc was famous for contravening the conventions of gender in her dress. McQueen rarely used supermodels, beyond Kate Moss. He preferred models who were not that well known, or if they were, he liked disguising their features on the runway with treatments that in a way obliterated their identities. So this particular piece is quite typical of McQueen in terms of the fact that it is covering her face. We are totally unaware of who the actual model is. He did really want the artist to focus more on the artistry of the clothes, rather than the identity of the model.”
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