“To rebel yet sell”- a never ending struggle that the iconic designer Alexander Mc Queen took head on with the world at large. Mc Queen honoured History and yet questioned and provoked Tradition through his Iconic Designs. A creative genius who along with being a Master Craftsman due to his extensive experience in tailoring in his formative years which made him stand out since the beginning of his career , was also a visionary and an artist. A designer whom the critics loved to hate, till the very end, yet McQueen succeeded in creating a Brand that is now synonymous with being British and its Luxury Clothing which continues to be most sought after even by the Royal Family of Britain.
Early Life and learnings
Lee Alexander Mc Queen was born and educated in London and was the youngest of six siblings. In his years growing up he saw his family struggle a lot due to lack of money. Mc Queen started drawing at the age of 3 and was always interested in Fashion. Leaving studies at the age of 16 McQueen started working as an apprentice at the Menswear Tailors Anderson and Sheppard and Gieves and Hawkes at London’s famous Savile Row. Later on he shifted from tailoring to pattern cutting at Angels and Bermanns who used to make theatrical costumes.
Learning tailoring quite adeptly, Mc Queen had the hunger to learn more, so he joined Japanese Designer Koji Tatsumo who had a brand called ’Culture Shock’ in London as a pattern cutter. When ‘Culture Shock’ failed to sustain as a brand then Mc Queen’s inquisitiveness took him to Milan where he joined the famous designer Romeo Gigli and there he learnt the process of garment manufacturing.
These formative years he spent learning the intricacies of Garment Making from scratch helped him gain the confidence to apply at Central Saint Martins as a teacher, which was turned down by the then Head of Design Bobby Wilson who instead asked him to enrol for their renowned Masters Course of Fashion Design. It was in his M.A. Graduate show named- ‘Jack the Ripper stalks his victims’ in 1992 that Isabella Blow, a contributing editor of Vogue at the time got so impressed by McQueens raw talent and vision that she bought his entire graduate collection. Even the brand name “Alexander Mc Queen” was shortlisted by them together. It is therefore in 1992 that Alexander McQueen the brand we know now, came into existence.
Rebellious Instinct and Iconic Shows
Alexander Mc Queen’s designs were subversive and provocative at the same time, raw yet showcasing his skillful artisanship and attention to detail. He was always a rebel, slightly forever unpolished for his counterparts in Luxury Fashion.
McQueens personality was very well showcased all through his career in the collections and his theatrical shows. A troublesome childhood that included sexual abuse by a family member and a teacher and the lack of acceptance of his homosexual tendencies by society and family at large created a void in him which he tried to fill through his creative genius. These experiences were behind the unnerving Gothic darkness one felt at few of his shows like AW 1995 The Highland Rape which was a result of his interest in his family’s Scottish Lineage based on the genocide done by the English.
He was also inspired by Nature and Birds in particular and he used them as an inspiration for few of his collections.He also never shied away from using the latest technology for his shows, the finest example of which was showcased in SS 1999 show NO. 13 in which model Shalom Harlow wore a white dress which was painted by robots. Mcqueen 2001 show VOSS was one of the best shows in fashion history in which the models walked around in a mirrored box. He continued to surprise and his brand McQueen grew in time as he was awarded the Best British Designer for four times.
Acquisition by The Kering Group
Alexander Mc Queen was called various names by the press such as ‘L Enfant Terrible’ and ‘Hooligan of Britain’ but his skills were noticed by the Fashion world at quite a young age. He had succeeded John Gallaino to head Givenchy (under LVMH) in 1996. Mc Queen had a tough time navigating his rebellious creativity and delicate nuances expected of him at Givenchy. His freedom of expression was curtailed by the whole corporate like structure at Givenchy. This phase of his career was quite tumultuous and it ended in 2001 when the Gucci (now Kering) Group bought a majority stake 51% in brand Alexander McQueen.
Brand McQueen
This gave McQueen the much needed financial respite and the stability to create more Avante Garde designs. As the brand grew McQueen launched an affordable and younger looking line McQ IN 2006 which has been shut down in 2022. Other notable launches were his fragrances Kingdom (2003) and MyQueen (2005), a collaborative collection with PUMA in 2005 and a collection for MAC cosmetics in 2007. All these ventures made brand McQueen more accessible and popular.
Although as the brand grew so did his addictions of drugs and alcohol. In 2007 his mentor Isabella Blow committed suicide, Mc Queen was extremely disturbed by this incident and he in a form of tribute made a collection in 2008 her honour named ‘La Dame Bleu’. McQueen’s creative genius kept growing and in SS 2010 he gave one of his best collections which was also to be his last –‘Platus Atlantis’. Soon his mother died due to Kidney Failure on 2nd February, that broke Mc Queen to an extent that he committed suicide at the age of 40 on 11th February 2010.
Sarah Burton and Brand Mc Queen
The Brand Alexander McQueen grew till 2010 based on the iconic designer and his theatrical abilities to gain attention and also the immaculate artisanship and intricate detailing that the brand became famous for. A McQueen Fashion show was the most sought after as the audience and critics never knew what was in store for them. After his death it was his close associate and Women’s wear Design head Sarah Burton who took charge and the brand sales which were at 220 million Euros in 2014 grew to 830 million Euros in 2022. The ready to wear segment of the brand continued to perform well. Sarah Burton who joined as an apprentice stayed true to Brand Mc Queen’s aesthetics and detailing and added a hint of softness which some felt did not match the creative genius of Mc Queen. Yet the business scaled and the reputation grew. She finally hung her boots in 2023 , paying homage to Mc Queen in her last show.
Alexander Mc Queen- The Future
The brand now after Burton has a new Creative Director Sean Mc Girr, an Irish National born in 1988 and a graduate of Central Saint Martins 2014 batch. He is at the helm and had his first show for the brand last year which signals the new era for Alexander Mc Queen. The latest show FW 2024 was inspired by Mc Queens focussed tailoring, jackets and the main inspiration being the SS 95 show – The Birds. With his extensive experience at UNIQLO and JW Anderson, Mc Girr is bound to give the brand a fresh youthful and edgy energy which got dampened after McQueen. The brand created by Alexander Mc Queen is thriving still , where would it be if the original ‘L Enfant Terrible’ was alive is a question none of us can have an answer to though.
References:
- History of Alexander Mc Queen, Article, Published 5th October 2023. Available at: https://glamobserver.com/the-history-of-alexander-mcqueen/ (Accessed: 15.09.2024).
- The friendship between Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow becomes a movie, Article by Ketj Talon, Published 31st August 2016, Available at:https://www.nssmag.com/en/fashion/8957/the-friendship-between-alexander-mcqueen-and-isabella-blow-becomes-a-movie/ (Accessed: 14.09.2024)
- Alexander Mc Queen-an introduction, Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/alexander-mcqueen-an-introduction?srsltid=AfmBOoodyFaf_t9bA3_tfrTgviGM4JdOkE9JLuqNzrk6sUktxfO4SlnB(Accessed: 14.09.2024)
- Alexander Mc Queen brand profile in United States, Alexander Kunst, Published: 3rd May 2024,Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1351909/alexander-mcqueen-luxury-fashion-brand-profile-in-the-united-states(Accessed:16.09.2024)
