"When I'm dead and gone, people will know that the twenty-first century was started by Alexander McQueen."
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On the 22nd of July, I ventured into London to visit the 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' exhibition held by the V&A in partnership with SWAROVSKI. It was an exhibit to honour, celebrate and inspire by showing the life of one of the most influential British designers of all time.
The exhibition led us through his collections, earliest to latest, to see how Alexander McQueen's work had progressed. What I saw completely blew me away and I was honestly lost for words.
The exhibition led us through his collections, earliest to latest, to see how Alexander McQueen's work had progressed. What I saw completely blew me away and I was honestly lost for words.
The atmosphere in each room was different. The V&A did a great job of setting the scene: with music, interior design and the actual placement of the garments to suit each collection. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photographs within the exhibit (even though I've seen on Instagram that people have - naughty|) so here will be some photo's taken out the exhibition catalogue that I purchased (bloody expensive they were until I realised I could get discount - yay for being a student!), but I would have loved to have taken pictures of the large room filled with accessories, shoes and bejewelled bodices - what a visual impact that made!
In the largest room that I just mentioned, there were clips of catwalk shows. This is where I saw a gown from the 'Sarabande' collection covered in real and silk flowers. As the model was walking down the catwalk, flowers fell off which I later learnt symbolised everything coming to an end, everything dies.
In the largest room that I just mentioned, there were clips of catwalk shows. This is where I saw a gown from the 'Sarabande' collection covered in real and silk flowers. As the model was walking down the catwalk, flowers fell off which I later learnt symbolised everything coming to an end, everything dies.
My favourite collections were 'Highland Rape' and 'The Widows of Culloden'. Maybe because of my own Scottish routes, but a reason I loved them so much was the intricate detailing, and more importantly, the story behind them. You could see they were very personal due to his own Scottish heritage, with 'Highland Rape' symbolising "England's rape of Scotland" in the historical sense, and "The Widows of Culloden" balancing it out nearly a decade later by portraying a positive outlook.
I am so so glad to have caught this exhibit whilst I could, as it finishes on August 2nd. If you can manage to get to London before it ends, then I fully recommend you do as I feel so inspired about what I want to do myself, and what message I want to put across through my own work.
I am so so glad to have caught this exhibit whilst I could, as it finishes on August 2nd. If you can manage to get to London before it ends, then I fully recommend you do as I feel so inspired about what I want to do myself, and what message I want to put across through my own work.
Have you managed to catch the exhibition?
What did you think of it?
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