Yesterday I had the great fortune to go to the V&A Museum’s Alexander McQueen exhibition Savage Beauty.
It was, without doubt, one of the best hours I’ve ever spent looking at an artists work. I was completely blown away and, frankly, very emotional!
I’m not one to think of Fashion as art – most of the time the industry is about selling clothes and making money to be fair – but McQueen was completely different. He wanted to make a connection with people, to move them, to shock and inspire in equal measures. He didn’t just want you to admire his clothes – he wanted you to get the message loud and clear.
His Savile Row tailoring training was clear throughout his work – the shoulder skimming jackets, the drape of a hem, the cut of a billowing cape. He was able to compose form and proportion in a way that set him apart.
Like costume dramas on an epic scale, the theatre that he brought to his shows, the narrative behind his collections, and echoed in the exhibition, gave his collections huge impact.
This celebration of his life’s work is made all the more poignant given his untimely death and you realise that he oscillated between life and death, between decay and vibrancy, earth, ashes, blood, nature, rebirth – the cycle of life.
Go go go and go again and if you can’t go then have another look at his work and remember how breathtaking his artistry was.
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White House Project 