Alexander McQueen a Genius of Fashion, Art, and Expression by: Kirsten L. Thompson Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) |
Every year, since as far back as I can remember, I have looked forward to the Fashion Weeks of the World with the fervor and enthusiasm of a child on Christmas Morning. New York, Milan, France, London - all epicenters of the glorious and seemingly magical world of fashion. Their plurality only intensified the effects that a singular Fashion Week could ever have on it's own. As soon as my head would stop spinning from the images of one, then on to the next city's Fashion Week - which would vie for my affections to be dubbed Best Of The Year.The images are much more accessible now; I used to have to wait until they were published in periodicals and trade magazines. There were always certain designers that stood out. Of course, there are the designers who always did Pretty, Classic, Elegant. And there were the designers who hurled outrageous in your face and dared you to call it anything short of beautiful. And upon closer-second inspection, how could you not?
Enter, center stage: Alexander McQueen. Who, exactly, was he and what went on in his head that allowed him to create works of fashion-art that were all at once: unnerving, mesmerizing, and simultaneously repulsive and beautiful? Was he Lee -his birth name- , the son of a cabbie and product of modest upbringing in council housing**? Or was he Alexander, of ten inch stiletto and garbage- on- the - runway fame? Being that this is the "Age of Google", anyone with a PDA, SmartPhone or computer can instantly access a biography of Alexander McQueen including all of the details of his departure from us last week. But what may be hardest is to convey what Alexander McQueen- the Brand and the Man represented and still represents to everyone who loves Fashion, Art, and Expression.
 Looking at all of the blogs and Fashion sites in the last few days really summarizes what the designer was all about. There are his detractors who insist that he was nothing more than a costume designer who didn't design clothes for people, only characters. There are some who feared him as a designer because his collections often teetered on the edge of exposing the the dark, aberrant qualities that all humans have deep down inside: extreme vanity, avarice, vice, deviance. But more often than not , you have the McQueen enthusiasts who appreciated that his craft was the purest form of expression and he chose to share it with others. What is to be appreciated is that no matter how avant-garde' or over the top he was considered to be, people wanted his clothes. They wanted to be a part of him by owning a tangible piece of him. And not just entertainers and starlets. Doctors and lawyers clamored for his suits. College "girls and boys" saw Lady GaGa videos and saved for his accessories and jewelry. "Bag ladies" collected his bags. After all, how can you own a Mc Queen piece without it, and by virtue you, becoming a conversation starter? Sometimes the conversations are light and of no substance. But I have also been privy to deep, thematic exchanges between people who were trying to decipher his messages played out on the runway. At any rate, people were talking....
I remember when I heard the news."Designer Alexander McQueen found dead in his London home". Three things immediately struck me: sorrow, bewilderment and a sense of displacement. After all, his death occurred days before the beginning of New York Fashion Week, and his own collection was slated to be shown during Paris Fashion Week on March 9th. "Would the "show go on?", "Would there be a public service?" , "Would someone dare take his place?", and selfishly, "Who was going to give me my dose of the ethereal in a most delightfully macabre-whimsical-antastic manner?"
Ironically, a few nights before, a friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook asking me if I had seen latest collection. We both mused over how utterly ridiculous ( fashion talk for: "Amazing- We love it!!") it was and then both drifted off to sleep. And dreaming of McQueen, nonetheless.
I will never forget an experience I had during my years as a young adult. In college I had a friend named Steven who later became "Stephanie". When I asked him how he had the courage to be so bold in a world of criticism and opinion, he picked through a stack of magazines we had been looking at, flipped one opened and practically stabbed the page with his finger. He looked at me and said "How can I not?". The spread featured a McQueen- clad model with a large bird perched on her shoulder and a beautifully torn and tattered dress. She looked as if she had nearly been pecked to death but it was hauntingly beautiful. Steven went on to explain that he felt McQueen just by looking at the garments he made and that allowed him to be whatever he wanted to be, because "if he can put it out there, so can I !".
I also know of a young, successful businesswoman -born and raised in Texas- who once told me that she loves McQueen because his pieces have power. And I knew exactly what she meant. After all, this blond, petite barely thirty- something was doing business with billionaires and men of power in a Boys Club environment. Any old suit or dress just wouldn't cut the mustard. After all, first impressions do say a lot. And she wanted to say " Don't let the skirt fool you. I can hang in there with the best of you!".
I wonder if Mr. McQueen had any idea of how much his vision, his work and, and passion played into the lives of others.Isn't it amazing how someone can affect so many people that he didn't even know? It just reminds us all to be our authentic selves. Every day. We never know how much we are a gift to others by just being who we are.
Although I -like most people- never had the good fortune to meet him, I am mourning the death of Alexander McQueen. He was an artistic genius. His work stirred such undeniable visceral responses within everyone who beheld it. I have been inspired by his inventiveness, fascinated by his brilliance, and led to thought-provoking moments all because he had the fortitude to stay true to who he was an artist and unabashedly present his vision to the world. Season after season. Year after year. He was Alexander Mc Queen. Simple as that. Sometimes people wondered where he was going with his designs because they weren't always understood. But that was his essence. He let you into his mind just enough to give you a glimpse of his universe without fully revealing all. He was both mysterious and delightful, dark and whimsical, eccentric and entertaining - all while managing to look like "an average Joe" on the street. It is my belief that, In true Shakespearean fashion, he died of a broken heart. The death of his Mother in February and his best friend Isabella Blow was too much for him to bear....And that is why he was so Beautiful. Because he felt. And he allowed us to feel whenever we put on one of his pieces or simply looked at photos of his work.
I am going to miss this man. We all will. RIP ALEXANDER MCQUEEN... ** Council Housing is the British / Irish equivalent of the American "Projects"
Posted by: Luz Vargas February 16, 2010. 1:49 am DATE: Thu, Feb 18 2010 at 12:20 AM Very well written. I like it. I felt like I understood a man I didn't know. - Joseph Rawls DATE: Wen February 17 2010 at 2:02am The accolades of this man are beyond measure. It's hard to replace someone who was such a visionary in the world of fashion. There was nothing or no one like him. Im truly sad that my fellow PISCES is now gone...This was very well written. - Diamond Mahone Date: Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 7:56 PM WOW!!!!!! SIMPLY WOW!!!!!!!
YOUR ARTICLE IS IMPRESSIVE WITH CONTAGIOUS IMPACT!!!!!!! I COULD FEEL YOUR ENERGY AND PASSION WHILST READING IT!!!!!!!
You blew me away!!!!!!! With this passion for who you are, and what you love, you are "Alexander McQueen", my dear.
Thank you for sharing your special moment with me. Why are you not in New York???????? Make it happen Kirsten.......sooner rather than later......
I want to be reading about you now, not when you have passed on. I did not put the name or face of this designer with the dress, but do know that Drew Barrymore does own this dress.
When I saw her in the dress, it obviously got my attention because I remember the uniqueness of it. His design not only proves how great he was as a designer, but the strength put forward of not caring if it would be embraced. You do share that confidence, creativity, strength and passion with Alexander McQueen. NOW GO FOR IT!!!!! Fondly,
- Marga Date:Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 5:33 PM You're quite the writer--I LOVED IT!
- Rosalyn
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