Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Retrospective: Alexander McQueen F/W 1997/1998 - It's A Jungle Out There

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In “It’s a Jungle Out There,” shown in February 1997 in London’s Borough Market, McQueen meditated on the theme of the Thomson’s gazelle and its terrible vulnerability to predators.

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He used the idea of animal instincts in the natural world as metaphor for the dog-eats-dog nature of the urban jungle, staging the show against a forty-foot-high screen of corrugated iron drilled with imitation bullet holes and surrounded by wrecked cars, adding dry ice and crimson lighting for drama.

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In a television interview he said: “The whole show feeling was about the Thompson’s gazelle. It’s a poor little critter – the markings are lovely. It’s got these dark eyes, the white and black with the tan markings on the side, the horns – but it is the food chain of Africa. As soon as it’s born it’s dead, I mean you’re lucky if it lasts a few months, and that’s how I see human life, in the same way. You know, we can all be discarded quite easily … you’re there, you’re gone, it’s a jungle out there!”

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Yet the design and styling of a hide jacket with pointed shoulders from which a pair of twisting gazelle horns stood up, worn by a model whose metallic contact lenses made her look like an alien, subverted the fatal passivity of the Thompson’s gazelle.

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Though the animal was referred to in the model’s dramatic black and white face make-up, the horns, and the hide jacket, McQueen repositioned its parts and added the huge shoulders and metallic contact lenses to create a woman more like Rider Haggard’s She: predatory, scary, powerful, and only half human.

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These were the characteristics of McQueen’s femme fatale, a figure who suggested the terrifying power of women rather than their soft vulnerability.

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Sources: Pictures: Synaes, license: license: Creative Commons (by) 2.0

Text taken from article: 'A portrait of designer Alexander McQueen and his visions of the future.' by Caroline Evans


How do you like the collection and the ideas it is based on?

6 comments:

  1. I love it! as always...
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE IT!!!!

    This collection is just amazing!

    xOxO
    http://the3rt.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow that first jacket is EVERYTHING!


    Found your blog via IFB, following now! Would love if you checked out/followed my blog as well :)

    Looking forward to more great posts!

    xoxo
    Natasha
    http://thechiccurve.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this!! I think it is a brilliant idea and the collection is absolutely amazing.
    Thanks for sharing.
    -Madeleine

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  5. The one!

    XoXo
    Plami

    http://www.fashionthrill.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Alexander Mc Queen is just amazing as usual..


    http://cherrycherryparis.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete