Tags
Alexander McQueen, Art, Brand DNA, Fashion, Idenity, London, Music, Rebel, Savage Beauty, V&A
HI LOVERS,
Everyone’s talking about the new Alexander McQueen show; Savage Beauty opening in London at the V&A for the first time this week. The collection has previously been shown in the Met, New York but growing up in the East End McQueen used a lot of 19th Century London to inspire his work so it truly feels like the collection has finally made its way home.
Everyone wants an inside look at the two decades of work on show at the V&A until August. McQueen’s thought process and method of execution is something now we’ll never know the true extent of. He was eager to startle, shock and wow the audience with raw materials, taxidermy and shapes that were original and truly awakening, and sadly after his death in 2010 we can now only wonder what message he was trying to convey, where would his work and imagination take him if he were still alive? Where was he taking the McQueen brand and how would he have continued to show rebellion in future collections?
But what does rebellion mean to you and me?… We aren’t given red carpet opportunities, or the bank balance to afford a statement piece like a McQueen so how do we rebel in everyday fashion?
‘Rejection of convention’ is how rebellion is explained in the dictionary and the easiest way of me understanding McQueen’s use of rebellion is looking at the word convention which means ‘widely accepted view of behaviour’. McQueen however broke these rules of behaviour with the mixed media used, in the shape and form and detail from head to toe and was then able to break it down to show the possibility of unconventional fashion.
McQueen was uncompromising and 100% conscious of the decisions he was making, the forms he created held innovation and style. His brand DNA is unmistakable and gives a clear message of strength and identity.
For me a huge part of rebelling with fashion certainly came from my past and the music I was brought up with. I learnt to appreciate the beauty of Jean Paul Gaultier corset worn by Madonna, the bold glitter and glasses worn by Elton, the classic military uniform worn brilliantly by The Beatles and how both Patti Smith and Grace Jones oozed strength and androgynous-power completely differently.
My eclectic taste in music has followed me to this day but now we have new opportunities; fashion exhibition shows, media platforms, availability of art at our finger tips, they are all leading my imagination in unruly fashion and personalised style because it is artists and fashion designers like these that aren’t following trends but are setting them, creating statements ahead of everyone else and with twenty years behind McQueen it seemed he wasn’t following fashion but making a statement. Fashion to McQueen had no limit, no boundaries. Rules were broken and stripped down for him to reinvent them and create his own rulebook.
So is rebellion a form of expression and emotion? I’d certainly like to think so. It definitely helps to have attitude in order to pull off unconformity and it is McQueen who allows his clothes to speak louder, to express emotion without the need for words.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN SS15
The first 30,000 tickets sold in record time but good news is that the V&A have added another 50,000 tickets and extended the show to August with 200 tickets now also available to buy daily! Horary!!!… I’ve just booked myself a place for my Birthday… So roll on April!… McQueen it’s going to be emotional but I can hardly wait!
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