Shalom Harlow at Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 1999 - No. 13
This show was inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement and it ended with the model Shalom Harlow rotating on a turntable wearing a white dress being spray painted by two industrial robots. Harlow trained as a ballerina; It’s often said that the inspiration behind the collction was the dying swan. In actual fact, the inspiration came from an installation of the artist Rebecca Horn, of two machine guns firing paint at each other.
Watch the video here
(Source: Flickr / synaes)
The Alexander McQueen “Savage Beauty” Exhibit at the MET. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to see his creations in person. RIP Lee Alexander McQueen you hold a very special place in my heart.
(Source: models.com)
I love the intensity that Lee brought to every show. He pushed his models to really display their talents, which I think is extremely important in a fashion show and avant-garde because it redefines runway models. In Lee’s shows they are personified; instead of your normal “blank-stare-pose-for-three-seconds,” in this show, we are dealing with different types of ordeals. It’s quiet magical to watch.
(Source: adjectival, via thefatcatshadaheartattack)
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2007
This look from the Spring/Summer 2007 collection is McQueen’s take on a Victorian bride. Though she is clad in white with clear bridal suggestions, the antique quality of her veil, the ashen colour of which seems to coat the face like a film of dust accumulated over years of neglect, suggests a general sentiment of something sinister lurking beneath the bridal veil. Something, perhaps, to the tune of Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker’s Romanticism.
In Alexander McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 2007 occult fashion show all the models ritualistically walked along the red lines of a giant pentagram. The show kicked off with an invocation/occult prayer, which sounded like a black magic invocation to bring about possession. The prayer was read out cryptically with pictures of models within the inverted pyramid that is symbolically above the giant pentagram (pointing in the centre of the inner Pentagon). After the invocation a petrified scream is heard and the models start walking the Luciferian catwalk.
Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2008
McQueen’s Spring/Summer 2008 collection was an homage to his late mentor and dear friend, Isabella Blow. Birds again crept into the collection, as the theme not only personally symbolized Blow to McQueen, but was also representative of his own career highlights, which would never have blossomed without her guidance. He also self-referenced other collections past during this show, including the Japanese-themed couture collection which he designed for Givenchy. This model’s face is covered with applique feathers, and the beautiful chiffon goddess gown wisps down the runway like a delicate cloud. This look is particularly emblematic of the avian element, more dove than eagle this time around.
