For school I was assigned to write a descriptive essay about anything I wanted, so I chose to write about the final collection of Alexander McQueen. I'm deeply fascinated by his incredible talent, and I'm sure most of you are too! So here is my essay I wrote that gives a more inside view of the actual event of McQueen's last collection.
On March 9, 2010 a group of privately invited editors filed into a small, intricate, baroque, room to view an unfinished collection that contained only sixteen pieces. Countless of other people who were not invited to the actual event in Paris sat in their homes glued to their computers or their blackberry screens to view the collection that would become forever engrained into their minds. It was the runway show of a lifetime, and after almost a month of painful mourning, the world was finally ready to witness the walking funeral of Alexander McQueen.
As the editors anxiously watched while the models glided down the runway, opera music was eerily playing in the background to compliment the tribute. The whole room felt heavy and as if it was being dunked thirty feet underwater and couldn’t breathe, for fear that reality might finally sink in. The reality was, of course, that the man that had blessed the fashion world with his craft for over fifteen years was gone, but with sixteen beautiful pieces left behind.
Like any career, McQueen’s had its ups and its downs, its controversy and its praise. This collection, however, was nothing but awed and worshipped. The clothing was impeccably made and perfectly crafted out of lush, silky, rich, fabrics that look like they were sewn by angels. It was almost as if McQueen had been aware that the end of the life of his body was near, so he made sure to create the perfect closing chapter for his journey of creations. The editors’ minds were being flown to a world of imagination. Displayed in front of their eyes was one of the most talented designer in the world’s open and exposed diary in clothing form.
In his designs, Alexander was famous for mixing the ugly with the beautiful, the romantic with the tailored, and the outrageous with the classic. He was also famous for taking risks and designing insane fashion. This collection surely showed his aesthetic of fearlessness, but it displayed his imagination in such a way that really showed off his extraordinary talent and skill. Onlookers could clearly see that McQueen made this collection to not hold back in any sense. McQueen was inspired by the Dark Ages, but he pulled out and recreated delicate beauty and light from the darker times. He took heaven, hell, and medieval beauty, and displayed it in such a way to tug at the hearts and souls of many people in such an oh-so-McQueen nature of handcrafted, romantic, and tailored intricacy.
The whisper of the models’ shoes click clacking on the floor under the opera music could only help to compliment the pull-and-push factor of the designs. The presence and vibe of the room felt slightly uneasy, but in a balanced and appropriate manner. The best of the light and the dark was shown in an amazing way that not even the highly prestigious fashion editors had seen before. The un-spoken of fact that McQueen must have had the same night and day, love and hate tug-of-war going back and forth in his own heart and mind was more obvious than the sweet smell of daisies in a flower field.
Alexander McQueen once called himself the “pink sheep” of his family, but most people would probably go as far as to say that he was the pink sheep of the fashion world too. Never having limits or boundaries, he pushed and pushed himself until the boundary line was a dot far back in the distance that he couldn’t even see. With every look that walked down the runway, McQueen reminded the world of his success and talent, and also of his immense ability to inspire millions of people who watched his journey of becoming a fashion superstar. No one, not even the privately invited editors, knew exactly what was going on in McQueen’s mind on that tragic day on February eleventh. But, what was made obvious in the minds of all the editors in Paris, and all of the people twiddling away on their blackberries at home, was that Alexander McQueen’s clothing goes deeper than just a few pretty gowns. He made a serious, positive impact on the world of fashion during the years he was involved in the industry. On March 9, 2010 a group of privately invited editors filed out of a small, intricate, baroque, room in Paris with the knowledge that although the man himself, Alexander McQueen, was gone, his creativity, imagination, and genius outlook on the world of fashion and art will forever be kept alive through his clothing. May you rest in peace, Mr. Alexander McQueen.
(Here you can get a closer look at some of the looks: http://dressingupindaisies.onsugar.com/Alexander-McQueen-2010RTW-Highlig... )
Xoxo,
Audrey
