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15.02.10 McQueen is Dead, Long Live McQueen

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RIP Mr McQueen. From Miss Nash, with Love

I took a look through all of his collections this morning. There’s just too much – it’s so overwhelming. Initially, it makes you want to run – run off back to the desk/sewing machine/drawing board and work like fury. Then you end up thinking – I can’t – I can’t possibly because he’s already done it – and done it perfectly. Whatever else there is to say, it doesn’t need to be said. Or he’d have said it better anyway – best leave it to the professionals.
Of course I’m only thinking this way due to a temporary grief-stricken state of mind.
After I finish writing this, I will go back to what I was doing, and do it with a renewed sense of urgency…A hero of mine has died, so it’s time to step up to the plate and try – however feeble to attempt – to fill those shoes. Fill a void.

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AW 2001

I truly think that the death of Alexander McQueen is the very worst loss that the fashion industry could have suffered today. There is no one comparable to him or his work – at all. In his absence there is a deep, dark, terrible hole, which will never be filled, only danced around – cautiously.

His women always looked so powerful – so ethereal, majestic, and sexually dominant. Every season his sirens would lure you in, make hideous love to you with the touch of a cold-blooded python, and then rip your head off and heart out like a black widow.

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AW 2002; AW 2006; AW 2007

I wanted to be those women, I wanted to wear those clothes – feel them against my skin just for a moment – but most importantly, I was inspired to clothe those women myself.

The very first show of McQueen’s that I remember knocked me for six was the one where the models were sent down the catwalk in the pouring rain – they were pummeled by a man-made tempest that crashed down on them from rigging suspended above the runway. I’m struggling to find any pictures or video footage from it, as it is one of his earliest shows from the mid 90s. The actual clothes are a blur. But the overall impression was that all of the girls looked as though they had been artfully bandaged up only moments before they strode out onto the catwalk. Once out in the open, they struggled to walk through the water and the rain whilst dragging long trains of fabric – sodden and drenched all the way through. It was captivating. I was completely hooked from that moment on. What a spectacle. What a beautiful vision made real. These frail creatures all striding through a storm with liquid fabric clinging to every curve.

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AW 2008; AW 2004; AW 2006

With McQueen everything was always about drama, mystery, spectacle, SHOW.
He told you stories. The kinds of stories that you almost didn’t want to hear – definitely not the kind of stories you want told to you just before you go to bed at night. You almost didn’t want to know the endings, because you knew they could never be happy…deep, dark, hideously beautiful things haunted McQueen, and he brought them up and out of his subconscious and thrust them into the light of day, and right under our noses.

I met and spoke to him once – in a round-about sort of way. I was in my first year at fashion college (London college of fashion) and Colin McDowell was hosting an evening with McQueen. An interview would take place between the two men, and then there would be a chance for the audience to ask questions. I was wearing (I can’t believe the crazy shit i used to wear back then) stonewashed skinny jeans (that I’d taken in myself because no one on the high street was making them skinny enough just yet) a vintage kimono jacket with an intricate red, turquoise and gold embroidered lining, and turquoise mohair leg warmers. Yes i was wearing legwarmers. Whatever.

Anyway, the interview was fantastic. The whole audience – packed into the lecture room at the British Museum – was spellbound; hanging on Alexander’s every word.
I got my question in towards the end of the evening -

‘The inspiration for each of your collections seem to come from a very dark sources – it’s like you are manifesting your greatest fears on the catwalk and through your work in waking life. Tell me, since you seem to deal with your fears and frightening concepts almost daily, what scares you? What keeps you awake at night?‘

He laughed at first – a nervous laugh. Had i touched a nerve? Could he answer me – a total stranger – in front of a whole audience of total strangers? But he did, and he said ‘My own insanity.‘

What that meant – even in the light of what has happened in the past few days – I can not tell you. I can suppose and speculate on it, I can interpret it in ways that would be fitting to play alongside the news of his recent suicide. But I wont. It means what it means what it means.
All creative people -especially those that dig deep into themselves; torture themselves; mentally beat themselves up continuously; and who produce works of art so wonderful that they take your breath away and make you wonder just for a second – those people have demons chasing them that no one else can possibly imagine, or wish to know about.

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AW 2003; Chased by Demons of his own creation

With such a vivid, tortured mind like that, I’m just thankful that he struggled through and lasted as long as he did – giving us so many beautiful things to look at, experience and enjoy; whilst entertaining us twice a year (four times in the latter years) with fashion shows that belonged on a worldwide stage. The decision to stream his SS10 show live via the world wide web was so fitting, it was only shocking to think that he hadn’t been doing so for the whole of his career.

I can’t begin to count the number of ideas and images that have been burned into my mind, and continue to influence the way that I work as a designer and a visual artist, all thanks to Mr McQueen. I shall miss his shows every season, but continue to treasure and be inspired by the work that he did produce. 

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SS 2005

Miss Nash is a fashion insider who will each week share her opinions on what's on her mind. Miss Nash splits her time between New York and London, working as a freelance womenswear designer and fashion journalist. She aims to please, but most often succeeds in offending people. Her blog postings will alert your attention to what to avoid like the plague, what to indulge in, and maybe even educate - but always in a lighthearted manner. Miss Nash doesn't take herself too seriously - so neither should you.  Follow Miss Nash on Twitter @missjnash