You already know I’m a fashion lover & observer and I’ve always believed the main purpose of fashion is to give us the tools to enhance our qualities and boost our confidence. It’s simple: we like pretty things and pretty things make us happy. I’m pretty pragmatic when it comes to fashion, maybe because I see beyond the glitz and glamour of this world. On rare occasions, some designers manage to amaze me at a level that I can no longer consider them designers, but artists.
I was familiar with Alexander McQueen’s work from photos and videos, but I have never seen a live runway nor have been like 10 cm away from his best outfits, able to study every detail and every stitch. I had the opportunity to do just that, at the SAVAGE Beauty exhibition in London. The exhibition consists of a series of dramatic installations and displays, some of them inspired by his runway shows, that capture the essence of his work from graduate to his death in 2010.
He always had a way of designing that pushed the boundaries of fashion, creating a style that I wouldn’t normally embrace. Of course there were items in his collections that I liked and items I disliked…but no matter my personal choices, you can’t really not appreciate such a creative mind like McQueen, fearless, innovative, that knew no limits.
I WANT TO BE THE PURVEYOR OF A CERTAIN SILHOUETTE OR A WAY OF CUTTING, SO THAT WHEN I’M DEAD AND GONE PEOPLE WILL KNOW THAT THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WAS STARTED BY ALEXANDER McQueen.
A. M.
After seeing Savage Beauty, you understand that he was part of a group of people that had the power to challenge themselves and everyone around them, a creator that learned the rules in order to brake them, giving life to new ways of thinking and designing. The man was not a designer, he was an artist, and his tools were fabrics, needles and thread. He was like a painter, a sculptor, a playwright, maybe all into one, as his clothes were far away from being just clothes, his runway shows real theatre acts. A free mind, he cut clothes guided by his intuition, he mixed fabrics in a unique way that has become his signature. He found inspiration in his hometown London, in nature, history, in his Scottish roots, in the particularities of different cultures. His collections were his way of showing the world what he thinks, what he likes and what he feels about something. You can’t really wear all his designs, you can only admire the work behind them and his genius interpretation of a theme.
I want to be honest about the world that we live in, and sometimes my political persuasions come through in my work.
A.M.
Photos: adorngirl.com; Victoria & Albert Museum
Before I left for London, a friend of mine told me to go see this exhibition, as it will change my way of looking at fashion. It is definitely something that all fashion lovers should see, as it’s not about clothes, it is about art in the form of fashion.
The exhibition can be visited until 2 August 2015, at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Gia
