We could probably say he was robbed of his magnum opus. But Alexander Lee McQueen’s last collection highlighted the untimely nature of his death so much. The eerie allusions to angels and demons, displayed posthumously in the salons of Pinault Printemps Redoute (PPR), seemed both like a glowing eulogy and a hint at the designer’s last torments.
The 16 ensembles were a triumph of historical art in the Paris fashion week. PPR, the conglomerate which carries the McQueen brand, pulled the collection out from the crowds of the ramps and rarefied it through a private viewing among fashion editors.
The memorial was as reverent as the collection. For among the quiet rustle of hand-gilded dresses, burnished with golden motifs paying homage to Boticelli’s angels and Bosch’s demons, the Byzantine invocation of frighteningly pale divine lustre, McQueen’s artistic depth and rigor showed. His tailoring was at its most meticulous, his vision almost hallucinatory. But unlike the edgyness of his most recent haute couture stunt, the reptilian collection for 2009’s spring, this last one secures his legacy in haute couture, albeit prematurely.
It is, perhaps, his most elaborate collection. And if there was ever a doubt that McQueen’s own workmanship would be desecrated by the team bereft of his direction, it didn’t show. McQueen was said to have filled the mold of this vision, cutting away at fabric and overseeing the imprints.
Heavy and ornate, the dresses were put together in dark, royal colors, feverish gold prints and trimmings and regal silhouettes. The flounces were no less than those of very rich silk, satin, chiffon, organza. And the accents, from crocodile skin-trimmed platform shoes with hand-carved wooden soles and fierce mohawks, could only be traced to the late designer’s unique mindset.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, The Guardian
