Karen Elson @ Voss, Alexander McQueen S/S 2001
An ensemble of an overdress of panels from a nineteenth-century Japanese silk screen, an underdress of oyster shells, and a neckpiece of silver and Tahiti pearls designed by Shaun Leane.
— Andrew Bolton (Curator, The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Tanya Dziahileva, Sasha Pivovarova, Natasha Poly and Gemma Ward at Alexander McQueen Fall Winter 2006
Eshu, Alexander McQueen F/W 2000
This was McQueen’s first collection that was shown in Paris (instead of London). It was inspired by the pre-colonial Yoruba tribe of West Africa, mixing tribal details with luxurious fabrics to emphasize the raw power of clothes. The models wore heavy steel piercings and their hairlines were dusted with yellow powder. The clothes were mud-spattered, glass-beaded and shredded, the materials being a variety of leathers, horsehair, and cotton.
The film projection of Irere, Alexander McQueen S/S 2003
McQueen, as well as being a fashion designer, art-directed many photoshoots, he art-directed many films, and this film formed the backdrop to the collection “Irere” that told the story of a shipwreck at sea and a subsequent landfall in the Amazon. And it was peopled with characters like pirates, conquistadors, and Amazonian Indians. The film was shot by John Maybury and depicts a moment when a woman falls overboard in a dress that’s referred to as the “shipwreck dress.” As she’s floating down in the ocean, the strands of chiffon get tangled around her legs and arms like seaweed.
Erin O’Connor @ Voss, Alexander McQueen S/S 2001
“My friend George and I were walking on the beach in Norfolk, and there were thousands of razor-clam shells. They were so beautiful, I thought I had to do something with them. The shells had outlived their usefulness on the beach, so we put them to another use on a dress. Then Erin came out and trashed the dress, so their usefulness was over once again. Kind of like fashion, really.”
