Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010)
Widows of Culloden, autumn/winter 2006–7
Cream silk tulle and lace with resin antlers
Photography by Sølve Sundsbø

In McQueen’s Words:

“When we put the antlers on the model and then draped over it the lace embroidery that we had made, we had to poke them through a £2,000 piece of work. But then it worked because it looks like she’s rammed the piece of lace with her antlers. There’s always spontaneity. You’ve got to allow for that in my shows.”

Big, Autumn/Winter 2006 

Dress
Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010)
Highland Rape, autumn/winter 1995–96
Green and bronze cotton/synthetic lace
Photography by Sølve Sundsbø

In McQueen’s Words:

“[This collection] was a shout against English designers … doing flamboyant Scottish clothes. My father’s family originates from the Isle of Skye, and I’d studied the history of the Scottish upheavals and the Clearances. People were so unintelligent they thought this was about women being raped—yet Highland Rape was about England’s rape of Scotland.”

Time Out (London), September 24–October 1, 1997

Oyster Dress
Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010)
Irere, spring/summer 2003
Ivory silk organza, georgette, and chiffon
Photography by Sølve Sundsbø

Sarah Burton: He wanted this idea of it—was almost like she drowned—and the top part of the dress is all fine boning and tulle, and the chiffon is all frayed and disheveled on the top. The skirt is made out of hundreds and hundreds of circles of organza. Then, with a pen, what Lee did was he drew organic lines. And then all these circles were cut, joined together, and then applied in these lines along the skirt. So you created this organic, oyster-like effect.

Andrew Bolton: He learned softness at Givenchy; he learned draping at Givenchy. And this particular dress, I think, is a real tour de force of the couture and is a great reference to the skills that McQueen learned at the ateliers at Givenchy.

Alexander McQueen “Black” Show

Coming Up Roses
Harper’s Bazaar, February 2007
Photographer: Sølve Sundsbø
Gown by Alexander McQueen