Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2012: The Illusion of Identity

I fell in love with Alexander McQueen in 1995. I was an eleven year old sitting on the floor feverishly tearing inspiration out of fashion magazines. I may have been 3500 miles away but I was completely absorbed in the London Fashion scene at the time. Isabella Blow, Kate Moss, the Primrose Hill set, Katy England, and anything coming out of Central Saint Martin’s. I practically studied it. I loved the attitude of the energy, even if I was only feeling it through glossy images and obscure dial-up pioneers. There was buzz about McQueen around then as he was appointed chief designer at Givenchy that year. Following his work became an adventure for me. He was a visionary in theatrical fashion and I was mesmerized. I watched each show in marvel and delight and each creation inspired multi-layers of ideas. In the decade-plus to follow, from ‘bumsters’ and bordellos to ball gowns and bridal wear, McQueen built a dynasty.

Following his passing in 2010, his longtime assistant Sarah Burton took the reigns, and what an incredible job she is doing! While respectfully staying within the roots of Alexander himself, Sarah’s influence of femininity and romance is as equally impressive as her extraordinary eye for detail. Her Spring 2012 collection, her third, is her most captivating yet. Burton transitions the McQueen woman into a confident 21st century heroin. A silhouette is revamped, one where the female body is honored and celebrated with the wearer standing strong in her form, whatever shape it may be. A cinch of the waist is to define, not constrict. Beautifully veiled faces and crowns mask the identity of the wearer so that the extent of self-expression relies solely on what is draping the body. Burton’s Spring 2012 feels like an awakening, a transcendence from a colder iron age into a golden utopia. The collection is, put simply, art in motion and reminds me of why the world fell so deeply for McQueen in the first place. One thing evident within the world of McQueen: Lee is forever shining down.