Throwback Thursdays: Beauty in the Grotesque
Five years ago, the "The Hooligan of English Fashionâ, Lee Alexander McQueen committed suicide in his apartment in London at the age of 40. The fashion industry permanently lost one of the most shining stars. However, people never stop missing him. âAlexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,â a retrospective of McQueenâs groundbreaking work, opens on March. 15 at Londonâs Victoria and Albert Museum after its record-breaking run at the Metropolitan Museum of Artâs Costume Institute in 2011. London, the home and inspiration to this great designer, takes a display that is larger in scale and in breadth than New York but somehow also exhibits every collection in a more intimate and personal way: Lee himself talks us through each room, his own words describing every source and inspiration.
1. âJack the Ripper Stalks His Victimsâ Collection
Deeply influenced by Hitchcockâs horror films, McQueenâs Central Saint Martins postgraduate collection of 1992, drew his inspiration from the famous serial Jack the Ripperâs Whitechapel victims of 1888. The collectionâs title reveals his fascination with the Victorian culture. It also established his distinctly narrative, autobiographical approach to design. The
black suit has distinguishing Victorian feature: wasp waist and exaggerated bottom curves. Also, the touch of red gives the item a sense of danger. Because most of Jack the Ripperâs victims were prostitutes, McQueen sewed human hair into the the pink silk frock coat to represent, which is shown in the last picture above. Explain by McQueen him self, âThe inspiration behind the hair came from Victorian times when prostitutes would sell theirs for kits of hair locks, which were bought by people to give to their lovers. I used it as my signature label with locks of hair in Perspex. In the early collections, it was my own hair.â
2. The Birds
McQueenâs mother, a genealogist who had significant influence on him, made him obsessed with history. His father Ronald was born on Skye island of Scotland (also McQueen's ashes are buried there), which gave him a sense of belonging to Scotland. McQueenâs fall show in 1995 was boldly titled âHighland Rapeâ which was inspired by the rapes and âethnic cleansingâ the British forces committed in the Scottish Highlands in the 18th and 19th centuries. Models were battered and bloodied, clothes fell off the body, and strategic rips and tears revealed flashes of skin. Undoubtedly, this collection became one of the strongest examples of controversial fashion moments in history.
If you are traveling this summer in London, donât miss out this fabulous exhibition (ends on August.2)! ! The first five weekends are completely sold out so book your ticket as soon as possible. Here is the link where you can book the ticket: http://www.lovetheatre.com/static/ Alexander-McQueen-Savage-Beauty-VAM.html I just got mine!
Happy sunbathing, Sophie Xue