One of our favourite consequences of creativity is that long after the passing of an artists, their work lives on and continues to impact the world around us, belying the fragility of life with a longevity that can go on indefinitely, and that’s undoubtedly the case with the brilliant career of Alexander McQueen. The upcoming retrospective of his work in the V&A’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition will be a very fitting tribute to the stunning fashion designs he created during his life, as well as acting as a pretty cool reminder of everything that he achieved.
Set to open at the South Kensington museum on the 14th March 2015, it’ll run through until the 19th July 2015, giving a little four months to see the exhibition. Tickets for general admission are from £17.50 and opening times are 10.00am–17.30pm daily and there are late night openings on Friday that goes on until 21.30pm with the last tickets sold at 20.45pm, and the last entry at 21.00pm.
What’s incredible though is how quickly the retrospective comes after the death of Alexander McQueen in 2010; not that it’s too soon in any way, but just how significant his work is clearly considered by the fashion and art communities alike for it to be featured after just four years. However, the designer’s career has been celebrated on many occasions in the past for its remarkable breakout success, so it’s no surprise that the V&A are so keen to display his work already.
The exhibition will feature a wide range of designs taken from more than twenty five years of his impressive career. Not only will his later works be included in the display, but it’ll also be a rare opportunity to see his 1992 MA graduate collection, which was the start of his big step up onto the world fashion stage, having worked on Saville Row and with Koji Tatsuno and Romeo Gigli before enrolling on the course at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Fashion.
You’ll also be able to see items from his unfinished autumn / winter 2010 collection, which sadly wasn’t released at the time of its creation due to his death. It’s kind of tough ignoring the macabre guilt involved in writing about an artist’s unfinished work, considering the fact that he died just four years earlier, but if we’re honest we’d be writing about any Alexander McQueen exhibition no matter what, and hopefully it’s a sentiment that will be shared by each of the visitors to see it at the V&A.
If having such a significant retrospective exhibition isn’t testament enough to the stunning design principles that surrounded his career, the fact that his design house continues on with new collections should be. The latest designs in their spring / summer 2015 runway show (see video below) are literally amazing and about as quintessentially Alexander McQueen as they could be without the designer around anymore to lead on creativity.
Legacy is an important factor in everyone’s lives and while Lee Alexander McQueen’s life ended in difficult circumstances, his incredible eye for fashion experimentation and design excellence can never be questioned. Today, the collections developed by his fashion house are overseen by Sarah Burton, who supervises the creative direction and development of the designs, following on from working with McQeen since her initial graduate placement in 1996.
