1. Instagram
  2. TikTok
  3. YouTube

    Now reading: the eight looks that defined alexander mcqueen’s career

    Share

    the eight looks that defined alexander mcqueen’s career

    i-D fashion director Alastair McKimm delves into the McQueen archives to chart a course through the designer's most revolutionary looks.

    Share

    Fall/winter 95. The bumster. Inspired by east London builders… need I say more?

    Spring/summer 97. McQueen was endlessly touching on the taboo, here Jesus walking on water and slavery. This exit has to boast one of the most extreme accessories of all time.

    Spring/summer 98. This show saw the debut of baby Gisele, the new ‘body’ in a golden shower.

    Spring/summer 99. Shalom being spray painted live by a robot is undoubtedly my favorite McQueen show moment. Not only that, but it was an amazing look to begin with!

    Fall/winter 01. I had just moved to London and started assisting at this point and suddenly, it all felt a lot closer. It was a milestone collection and the twisted theatrics of the one way mirror and the butterfly tank were incredible.

    Fall/winter 06. This look on Raquel Zimmeran, as a poetic, macabre, gothic, angelic beast is a perfect illustration of McQueen’s vision. This show will also be remembered for the revolutionary Kate Moss hologram, which seems to be imprinted in my mind.

    Spring/summer 07. The beauty of this finale look of what was an outstanding collection was that you could almost feel it disintegrating before your eyes, shedding pieces of the fresh flowers as it closed the show.

    Fall/winter 2009. I arrived late to this show and stood at the back as the first look walked around the beautiful, black pile of trash that was the set design. I’ll never forget it. It was almost a Parisian parody (Dior, YSL, Chanel) seen through a twisted, gothic, fetishistic mind. The brilliance of supersizing these silhouettes in recycled trash bags, with car hubcaps and coke cans as hats, was that it somehow turned out very London, 80s Blitz club kids galore!

    Loading