Savage Beauty opens with the line “London’s where I was brought up. It’s where my heart is and where I get my inspiration.” The exhibition is a stunning testimony to that love affair and the greatness it inspired. A tortured soul, drawing inspiration from the grotesque and macabre, seeing beauty where others feared to tread, McQueen poured his angst into his unique, theatrical creations, not just fashion but objects of art in their own right. The V&A’s exhibition flawlessly translates this for the viewer; from his Central St. Martin’s graduate collection ‘Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims’ to the very last he conceived right before his death, one which demonstrated a different side to a man dubbed the ‘enfant terrible’ of British fashion. The tale of Alexander ‘Lee’ McQueen, like that of his close friend Isabella Blow, is a tragedy greater than anything Shakespeare wrote. If only he could have seen in himself what this exhibition so movingly demonstrates; his profound impact not just upon the fashion world, but upon popular culture itself. A must see, Savage Beauty is a moving journey into the wondrous World of genius. Like the creations of Mr McQueen, this is pure art.
Duration | 14 March – 2 August 2015
Address | Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom
Photos | Harper’s Bazaar