V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum) | 14 March – 2 August 2015
Admission: Standard entry £16
When the Metropolitan Museum of Art staged a retrospective of the late designer Alexander McQueen three years ago, no one could have quite anticipated the dizzying heights of its success. The show quickly became a phenomenon, driving 660,000 people through the door and notching up a place on the museum’s top 10 most visited exhibitions list – eighth in its 142-year history. Now an expanded version of the exhibition is being shown in McQueen’s hometown, featuring 30 additional garments and a new section exploring his early days as a designer.
Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen Butterfly Head Dress
McQueen’s career went from strength to strength; among his most notable creations were David Bowie’s Union Jack coat and Bjork’s topless dress. His ‘bumsters’ sparked a new trend for low-rise jeans and his skull motif emblazoned designs were coveted among the fashion elite.
Aside from his commercial success, McQueen became known for staging outrageous catwalk shows. His most famous included a recreation of a shipwreck, a human game of chess and a life-sized hologram of Kate Moss, dressed in yards of rippling fabric. The latter is one of the exciting features of this V&A display.
The designer said of London ‘It’s where my heart is and where I get my inspiration’, making it particularly apt that the exhibition is staged in the city. At the announcement, V&A director Martin Roth commented: ‘It feels like we are bringing his work home’.
V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum) Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL
020 7942 2000
www.vam.ac.uk
Open daily: 10am – 5.45pm
Fri: 10am – 10pm
Book online via the V&A website