Anthony Wenyon looks at the importance of emotion and craftsmanship in Fashion Forward luxury, exploring Alexander McQueen’s legacy and the firm’s creative development today
Alexander McQueen goes beyond fashion. It represents true luxury and touches greatness in human expression. Through its legacy, creative development and hand craftsmanship, it brings accessible meaning to the human experience today as great masters had done for centuries
FASHION FORWARD & REAL LUXURY
Real luxury is fundamentally about beauty, wonder and meaning. Practicality is secondary. The price of real luxury objects reflects craft person’s time, skill and intellect as well as the quality of the materials used. This is fair when real luxury is delivered.
The rise of mass luxury has divorced a relationship that has been intact since the middle ages. Luxury is now sought for status, not the fundamental qualities of objects. As a result, craft and the intellectual underpinnings of the creative process have suffered as brand power satisfies status absent the ingredients of luxury. Price points are not always justified.
Emotion should be central to Fashion Forward luxury
As we have commented before this is now changing. More is expected of luxury. Meaning is key, either through master craftsman devoting themselves to their art, or the expression of emotion via a creative process. The latter is central for fashion forward luxury.
Fashion delivers meaning either in capturing the mood and sentiment of the times, particularly when a new mood has emerged through impassioned struggle or achievement (1960’s fashion), or when it expresses the emotions of its creator such that viewers – and wearers – experience a connected and uniquely human response.
Fashion should be no different to the creative process in the arts
This should be no different to the creative process in the arts, in particular the avant-garde where artists or movements seek new more direct, more powerful forms of expression. We look at Alexander McQueen in this context.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN – GREAT BEAUTY THROUGH PAINED EXPLORATION
Three conditions would seem to bring out the most powerful viewer responses to an expressive art work: An artist in touch with their own emotions; Unique skill with a particular medium; Universally understood imagery references and adeptness in bringing these factors together. We explore Alexander McQueen’s fashion in these terms.
The troubled, tortured artist
Experiencing the darker side of humanity can heighten sensitivity to its wonders
Artists that are sensitive, in touch with – but not necessarily in control of – their own emotions have been supremely expressive in their work. Although often tragically the case, those that have been troubled through certain experiences in life have been especially in touch with their emotions. Experiencing the darker side of humanity can, however, heighten sensitivity to its wonders – beauty, grace and human connections.
Van Gogh’s most troubled state coincided with this most famous work
Van Gogh, one of the most emotionally expressive artists of all time, is a good example. He had a deeply unhappy youth – “austere, cold and sterile”. He was rejected by his first love. He isolated himself thereafter and immersed himself in religion, living in increasingly squalid conditions. Harshly rejected again by his second love – “NO, NAY, NEVER” – but continued his quest to be told “your persistence is disgusting”. He fell out with friends, family and other artists – most famously with Gauguin in an incident that led to Van Gogh cutting off his ear. This unstable and most troubled state coincided with his most famous art from around 1880.
Jackson Pollock wrestled painfully to find his artistic style
Jackson Pollock, one of the most expressive Abstract Expressionist artists was also troubled. He was consecutively expelled from schools, wrestled painfully to find his own artistic style, reclusive, volatile and struggled with alcoholism for most of his life – a combination that is said to have led to his death in a car accident.
Alexander McQueen was no different. He was creative from a young age, making dresses for his three sisters. He was said to have realised his sexual orientation whilst still a child. But his council estate upbringing – his father was a taxi driver – brought expectations. There was difficulty accepting he was gay and plans for him to work as a plumber.
In 2015 his older (by 15 years) sister spoke for the first time about sexual abuse suffered by her brother at the hands of her husband from the age of nine. He also witnessed his sister being violently beaten on many occasions.
McQueen’s life and career is arguably influenced by experiences in his early life. He had difficulty in relationships, fights with his partner having involved the police. At certain times a lifestyle at the extremes of London’s gay scene, drinking and other ‘diversions’.
Unique skill within a particular medium
Van Gogh & Pollock became masters of their own media
Each of Van Gogh and Pollock developed their own unique approaches to painting. They each became masters of their own media, allowing extraordinary personal expression.
Van Gogh’s symbolic colours and impulsive and emotion laden brush strokes; Pollock’s mastery of gestural paint pouring.
McQueen’s medium was the human figure, fabric and materials of his choosing
McQueen’s medium was the human figure, fabric and other materials of his choosing. His technical mastery over these ingredients allowed him to use shape, structure, texture, colour and composition to express his deepest sentiments.
Universally understood imagery references
Each of the artists mentioned expressed their deep emotions and sentiments – via their unique media – using especially accessible visual references.
Van Gogh’s use of colour was central – in his 1888 The Night Café (below) he sought to express ‘the terrible passions of humanity’ using the universal symbols of blood red for the walls, an alien green for the billiard table alongside painfully clashing shades of both orange and green. Dreary blue and violet capture the drunks in the starkly lit room. It is clear to see the night café as ‘a place you can ruin yourself, go mad or commit suicide’. An ugly atmosphere of a devil’s furnace. We can understand how Van Gogh was so very in tune to this sentiment and how his skill and unique personal style allowed him to convey this with such clarity.
It is, however, precisely the troubles in Van Gogh’s life that led to the creation of some of the most overwhelmingly optimistic art in history. Rare moments of happiness – contrasting so sharply with his darker times – fleetingly filled Van Gogh with positive emotions that he was able to express with such universal clarity. His 1888 Sunflowers, in London’s National Gallery, is an instructive example (below). In particular, the vibrancy of the yellows, a colour few would not link to joy, happiness and hope.
In seeking to express his agitated psyche Jackson Pollock experimented with media – increasing the size of his canvases, dragging or flinging paint across them. His 1945 work Troubled Queen (below) shows clearly how his style was developing. Harsh and forced jagged lines, semi-abstract arrangements suggestive of leering eyes through a menacing mask and unnatural acid colours. The universality of these references is unquestioned – it is straightforward for a viewer to understand and experience Pollock’s pained sentiments.
As with Van Gogh, through Pollock’s deep seated need to express himself, a refined, utterly unique, mature style emerged in the early 50’s.
In marginally more settled periods he was able to appreciate the great beauty of nature around him. From his property on Long Island he enjoyed marshes and gorgeous watery light that touched and inspired him. His 1950 Lavender Mist (below), painted at the height of his career, shows how he was able to capture and express the beauty he saw and serenity he felt. White, russet, orange, silver and stone blue together provide a soft overall mauve effect. A wonderful lavender glow.
McQueen used similarly accessible universal visual references in his work, whether expressing darker sentiments or the extraordinary beauty he was able to create.
We would argue that his earlier work – that was extremely dark – was primarily motivated by a need to express how the experiences of his youth had affected him emotionally. He never spoke about them – it seems not even to his sister – but his work allowed him a channel to do so, as it had done so for Van Gogh and Pollock.
His own justification for the force of his work – wanting to shock, for attention, for publicity, to build profile – is plausible, but could it be that this was a cover story? To allow him to express his inner emotions without a need to speak of them.
I’d rather people left my shows and vomited
There was a lot of aggression in his tone at the time – I don’t care what others think etc. Could this be a resolve to fight, not with the outside world, not with the fashion world, but for himself. That what happened to him was not ok. That he was strong now.
As was the case throughout his career, he worked extremely hard in his early years. He seemed resolved to express himself with clarity. The universality of his visual references speaks to this.
He was developing and refining a creative language in the process – to be clearer and clearer in what he was saying to the world. As with Van Gogh, as with Jackson Pollock, this desire to express clearly led to their unique personal styles.
As with Van Gogh and Pollock, the development of McQueen’s unique visual language also allowed creations of extraordinary beauty to emerge. It appeared the rawness of McQueen’s emotions settled – for periods – into the 2000’s as he to explored the potential of materials for more positive expressions. He seems to have enjoyed life in particular his deeply felt appreciation of nature in these times.
LEGACY & SOCIAL ROLE
Upon McQueen’s death in 2010 a legacy had been established. A powerful and expressive creative language of structure, shape and form interacting with the human figure to instil sentiments and beauty.
Ownership and wearing provides a very personal connection
With Sarah Burton (McQueen’s head of design for 10 years) leading the creative process after his passing, this language lives on and continues to be interpreted and advanced for today’s audience. This is important as it connects people to the themes and meanings explored by McQueen and those developed under Burton’s stewardship. Ownership and wearing provides a very personal connection.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Throughout human history art and religion have served the primary purpose of providing meaning to peoples lives – the meaning of our existence and the highs and often tragic lows of the human experience. Our ultimate mortality. Together they tied communities together and provided moral frameworks allowing individuals to progress productively in their daily lives.
New, relevant and accessible expressive mediums are required
Today the church is not a significant part of most peoples lives and art has become increasingly abstract – no less valid but less accessible for those without the time, experience or knowledge to interpret it fully. This makes it difficult for people to access meaning. New, relevant and accessible mediums are required. McQueen communicated meaning succinctly via his shows and creations. He engaged a very broad audience.
McQueen’s key themes were mortality, nature and subjection, bringing great beauty and emotion – positive and tragic – into each.
It is important to look at death because it is a part of life. It is a sad thing, melancholy but romantic at the same time. It is the end of a cycle – everything has to end. The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things.
These themes are not new. They have been instrumental to providing life meanings for centuries. It is only through understanding and exploring the nature of the painful, tougher side of life that its joy’s, such as love and appreciation of great beauty can be experienced in their fullness and clarity.
Lucas Cranach explored the ecstasy and tragedy of love playfully – and very accessibly – in the c.1525 work Cupid complaining to Venus (below). Cupid gets stung by a bee after seeking the immediate pleasures of a honey comb. Venus laughs telling him the effect is nothing compared to the wounds of love he inflicts with arrows. The obvious references to eve the temptress clutching at the branches of an apple tree hints at the darker side of humanity. Cranach derives a powerful strange beauty in his figure of Venus, who’s hat and jewels were the height of 16th century fashion. The Dutch obsession with flowers in the 17th century contrasts extraordinary beauty in life with the inevitability of death and the shortness of life.
Holbein’s 1533 The Ambassadors (below) prominently depicts a skull (only seen when viewed from the ground from the bottom left corner of the painting) reminding viewers at the time of mortality and the shortness of life and its pleasures (represented by the lavish and scholarly depiction of the young ambassadors) when conflicts between the Catholic and Protestant church had the potential – if not checked – to descend Europe into conflict.
CRAFTSMANSHIP AT ALEXANDER MCQUEEN TODAY
McQueen’s background as a craftsman tailoring suits for the likes of Prince Charles and Mikhail Gorbachev working on London’s Savile Row provided a deep appreciation of how cloth and fabric could be rendered into beautiful expressive compositions around the human figure.
Working with Burton in the 2000’s, McQueen established a craftsmanship school and studio that underpinned the extraordinary works created. This lives on and represents the heart of Alexander McQueen today allowing the firms exquisite tailoring and master craftsmanship to be experienced by many. Indeed, master craftsman devoting themselves to their art in this way provides another layer of meaning.
THE MOST RELEVANT FASHION BRAND TODAY
Real luxury is about beauty, wonder and meaning. Each is delivered authentically with extraordinary depth from McQueen’s creations. His legacy survives. Alexander McQueen goes beyond fashion. It represents true luxury and touches greatness in human expression. Through the accessibility of its legacy, creative development and hand craftsmanship, it brings meaning to the human experience as great masters had done for centuries. That it is a British, makes us truly proud. It represents the very best Best of British.
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