![]() ![]() She saunters confidently up to the one-way mirrored glass, displaying this intense and violent demeanour that had become somewhat of a motif for models in McQueen shows. This brings forth questions around the examination and scrutiny of individuals dealing with mental health burdens while reinforcing this omnipresent feeling of claustrophobia. Model Erin O'Connor recalls how, "The unanimous explanation among all the models who worked with him was that he actually gave you freedom of expression", which certainly is visible through the variety of poised and punchy attitudes displayed.įollow, her head is wrapped in tightly bound bandages as if she has recently undergone a medical procedure. ![]() Acting in particularly unusual ways, the models displayed looks that were tormented, manic, unsettling and all the while confident demeanours, resulting in equally enthralling and distressing energy. These feelings were only brought further to the forefront when the models began to walk. ![]() When the lights burst on, observers were invited to peer into a padded room, mimicking the walls of a mental asylum, with a dirty glass box in the centre, immediately eliciting feelings of confinement, incarceration, and insanity. Those who were interviewed afterwards described the feeling as very discomforting. They were forced to look back at themselves for almost two hours before the show commenced, accompanied only by the silence that filled the air, prodding the critics and onlookers to analyse themselves, rather than the models for once, experiencing their own scrutinising stares. Held in London, the attendees were instructed to take their seats around a large, black- mirrored-glass box. And the result? A runway show teeming with the subject matter of self-reflection, torment, anguish and above all of this - the ebbing and flowing presence of beauty that pulses throughout the show. However, this hapless outlook formed the catalyst for much of his work. Recalling how he would order the most expensive caviar on the menu to not even eat it - falling victim to the rapidly rotating hedonic treadmill. Around this time, people close to McQueen had said that he had become deeply unhappy in the world he had become a part of and had also just undergone a liposuction procedure, seemingly seeking for that succour that appeared to be lacking.Ĭatherine Brickhill, friend and former design assistant to McQueen, tells of how he was becoming increasingly unhappy the more he achieved around this time. While these themes were definitely at play within the show, McQueen's spiralling mental health and the "dark side" of fashion were also ever-present ingredients, resulting in a much more haunting and harsh portrait of nature and the human spirit. The show was named after a small Norwegian town known for its splendorous nature, denoting a theme of wildlife and the natural world. Robotic paint-shooting arms, stages that burst into flames the designer thrilled on eliciting a strong response from onlookers and critics (both the good and the bad), and Voss succeeded in achieving just this. One show, in particular, was “Voss” (2001).Īt the turn of the millennium, McQueen's shows became increasingly extravagant performance artworks. This tragic event came as a surprise to many, shaking the fashion world and causing people to look back on the messages portrayed within his body of work with a deeper, more sensitive, and painfully tender eye. However, there was a darker side to Lee Alexander McQueen, which manifested in the form of depression, body issues and ultimately led the London-born designer to take his own life shortly after the passing of his mother in 2010. It was this boundary-pushing impulse that became a hallmark of the McQueen name, changing the course of clothing history and inspiring countless others to follow his path. Throughout his 18 year career, McQueen disrupted the fashion world with his unique and subversive collections, which stretched preceding definitions, and blurred the line between the domain of fashion and the art world. The name Alexander McQueen has been firmly cemented in the mind of the fashion world as one of the most provocative and laudable fashion designers. However, in a time of rapidly shifting trends, body pressures, and increasingly unattainable beauty standards, the core artistic message of the show seems to resonate more powerfully than ever. It's been twenty years since Alexander McQueen's highly celebrated Spring/Summer show “Voss” stunned audiences. ![]()
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