For my Sunday Fun day,
I dragged my mum with me to the last showing of Alexander McQueen’s
retrospective exhibition: Savage Beauty, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I
was stunned to hear of McQueen’s suicide in February of 2010 because he was a
designer like no other. McQueen in his heyday was most definitely my favourite
designer – his shows were theatrical, and a juxtaposition of romance and
menace. I knew I couldn’t miss out. So much so, that trust me to go on the very
last day of the exhibition! *Face palm* The queue was ridiculously long
but all worth it because of what awaited us in the beautiful, but often eerie, exhibition.
McQueen’s shows were
the epitome of art. My favourite room proved so by being shrine-like and
enveloped in his futuristic designs, animalistic headgear, and audio/televisions
consuming the black space. I had to take a moment of recognition in every
corner, just to make sure there was nothing I missed dangling from the nook and
crannies in the walls. Despite there being so much to look at around me, at one
moment in the midst of the noise and chaos surmounting, all screens and audio
simultaneously transitioned into the infamous Spring/ Summer 1999 runway. This
iconic show was concluded with Shalom Harlow having her white synthetic tulle
dress covered by machines with neon paint. Amongst the room, everyone as if
under order turned their gaze to the centre of the room where the actual dress
stood, defiant and deserving of all our attention. It was a surreal feeling to
be in the same room as the great Alexander McQueen’s designs, and it’s an experience
I will truly never forget.
Obviously I wasn’t the
only one who admired and thoroughly respected the work of McQueen, as over
480,000 tickets were sold for the £3million budgeted exhibition. I am super
lucky and privileged to have seen his work in person, as unfortunately, it will
most definitely never be exhibited again. For those that did miss out, I
managed to sneakily take some photographs of outfits that mesmerised me. I
wanted to take photo’s of everything as you can imagine, but the security were
pretty hot on not allowing photography. Sorry guys! For now, enjoy and let me
know if you have the chance to visit the Savage Beauty exhibition too! I’d love
to know.
