Savage Beauty has been described as Alexander McQueen's homecoming and we are lucky to have such an amazing exhibition on our doorstep.
Here's an edited version of the speech the V&A's Senior Curator of Fashion, Claire Wilcox, made at the Press opening of the exhibition:
'Alexander McQueen was one of the most influential
designers of his generation. His radical and fearless vision changed the way we look at fashion. He provoked with his bumster trousers, he astonished with his dresses
made from hand painted glass and razor clam shells, he shocked with his powerful and spectacular catwalk
shows that were characterised by a love of storytelling.
Although bold and subversive with his ideas, everything McQueen did was rooted in
craftsmanship of the highest level. As you probably know the original version
of Savage Beauty took place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in
2011. It was brilliantly curated by Andrew Bolton, Curator of the Costume Institute, who is also a consultant curator on this exhibition.
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| Portrait of Alexander McQueen, 1997. Photographed by Marc Hom © Marc Hom/Trunk Archive |
Savage beauty at the V&A is the largest and most ambitious
fashion exhibition the museum has ever staged. 240 garments and accessories are
presented in a series of displays, which engage with the key themes of
McQueen's work. These include his subversive tailoring, gothic sensibility,
Victorian London and Scottish anscestary. Above all, they reflect his fascination
with the natural world.
We are pleased to have been able to add to the curation
66 additional garments and accessories, some of which have never been displayed
since being first shown on the catwalk, such as the white feathered gown in the Cabinet of Curiosities room, plus the Horn of Plenty and
the Titanic dress from Plato’s Atlantis, slowly rotating in the same gallery.
In the Cabinet of Curiosities, you are also
surrounded by 27 screens showing footage from many of McQueen’s catwalk shows.
Although remarkably talented himself, McQueen also recognized talent in others
and collaborated widely with a swathe of other designers and craftsmen. From
fashion photographer Nick Knight to hat designer Philip Treacy and jeweller
Shaun Leane. All of them helped to realise the entirety of McQueen’s creative
vision. You can see many examples of Philip’s and Shaun’s work in this gallery.
We are particularly grateful to the designers for recreating some
very special pieces, for example Shaun Leane’s yashmak, which has been
completely remade, and Philip Treacy’s Chinese garden headpiece.
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| Spray painted dress, Alexander McQueen, No 13, S/S 1999 Model: Shalom Harlow Image: Catwalking |
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| Tahitian pearl and silver neckpiece, Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen, Voss, S/S 2001 Model: Karen Elson © Anthea Simms |
Alexander McQueen
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| Tulle and lace dress with veil and antlers, Alexander McQueen, Widows of Culloden, A/W 2006-07 Model: Raquel Zimmerman, VIVA London Image: firstVIEW |
London was at the heart of McQueen’s world, he was born there, he became a tailor’s apprentice on Saville Row and attended Central St Martin’s where he completed an MA in Fashion Design in 1992. He also established his fashion label there. The V&A also had a long history of working with McQueen. In 1999 he became the second designer to take part in Fashion in Motion, a series of live catwalk shows in the museum, to bring live, time-based fashion to the V&A's galleries.
The V&A worked with him again in 2001 for the Radical Fashion exhibition. McQueen frequently researched the V&A’s Fashion and Textile Collections and I have many good memories of showing him examples from our Victorian tailoring to whitework. He had books from the V&A and I think I spotted some of our postcards on his workboards. It’s fair to say that he loved and admired the V&A. In fact he once said that the collections of the V&A never failed to intrigue and inspire him, saying it was the sort of place he’d like to be shut in overnight.'
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| Bird's Nest headdress with Swarovski gemstones. Philip Treacy and Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen, Widows of Culloden, A/W 2006 Model: Snejana Onopka Image: Courtesy Swarovski Archive |
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| Dress of dyed ostrich feathers and hand-painted microscopic slides, Alexander McQueen, Voss, S/S 2001. Model: Erin O'Connor Image: REX |
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| Jellyfish ensemble and Armadillo shoes, Alexander McQueen, Plato's Atlantis, A/W 2009. Model: Polina Kasina © Lauren Greenfield/INSTITUTE |
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| Duck feather dress, Alexander McQueen, The Horn of Plenty, A/W 2009-10 Model: Magdalena Frackowiak Image: firstVIEW |
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Butterfly headdress of hand-painted turkey feathers, Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen,
La Dame Bleue, S/S 2008. Model: Alana Zimmer
Image: © Anthea Simms
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'I find beauty in the grotesque, like most artists. I have to force people to look at things.' Alexander McQueen
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| Jacket, Alexander McQueen, It's a Jungle out there, A/W 1997-8 Image: firstVIEW |
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| Alexander McQueen, It's Only a Game, S/S 2005 Image: firstVIEW |
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| Romantic Gothic gallery |
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| Cabinet of Curiosities gallery |
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| Voss gallery |
'There's no way back for me now. I'm going to take you on journeys you've never dreamed were possible.'
Alexander McQueen
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| Plato's Atlantis gallery |
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| Cabinet of Curiosities gallery - Swarovski crystal and stretch synthetic Bell Jar dress, Natural Dis-tinction S/S 2009 |
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| Romantic Nationalism gallery |
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| Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen wood and coral headpiece for The Girl Who Lived In The Tree A/W 2008 |
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| Silver and Swarovski crystal Star headpiece, Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen, In Memory of Elizabeth How A/W 2007 |
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| Silver and Swarovski crystal Crescent Moon headpiece, Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen, In Memory of Elizabeth How A/W 2007 |
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| Painted resin and net boots embroidered with Swarovski crystals and metal thread, A/W 2010 |
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| Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen Bird's Nest headpiece for The Widows of Culloden A/W 2006 |
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| Silver-plated metal rose corset, Givenchy Haute Couture S/S 2000, Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen |
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| Armadillo boot, Plato's Atlantis S/S 2010 |
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| The silk organza dress from the Widows of Culloden A/W 2006 collection worn by Kate Moss in the mesmerising Pepper's Ghost illusion that ended the show and is recreated at the Savage Beauty exhibition |
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| Close-up from the Romantic Naturalism gallery - hessian dress with floral embroidery and silk organza detail |
'Fashion can be really racist, looking at the clothes of other cultures as costumes. That's mundane and it's old hat. Let's break down some barriers.' Alexander McQueen
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| Dress with hand painted microscope slides bodice and dyed ostrich feather skirt, Voss S/S 2001 |
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| Romantic Naturalism gallery - silk dress embellished with fresh and silk flowers, Sarabande S/S 2007 |
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| Silk and lace dress with resin antler headdress, Widows of Culloden A/W 2006 |
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| Cabinet of Curiosities Gallery |
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| Gold metal and silk thread embroidered wrap dress with sash, What a Merry Go Round A/W 2001 |
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| Feathered fitted jacket and embroidered silk organza shirt (left) from Alexander McQueen's final collection, Angels and Demons A/W 2010 |
EXHIBITION DETAILS:
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, in partnership with Swarovski, supported by American Express and made possible with the co-operation of Alexander McQueen, runs until
2 August 2015. www.vam.ac.uk/savagebeauty
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