THE MCQUEEN EXHIBITION IS COMING HOME!!!!

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large



Alexander McQueen AW1O (Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty)

 
With the petition to Bring Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty Home in full swing (with the Guardian, Huffington Post, StyleBubble and Grazia picking it up, the number who've signed sits at 2000 +), it seemed only right to find out what the team at McQueen HQ are thinking. So I put a call in to the people there, people I've known an almost indecently long time.

It goes without saying that the McQueen team in London want the exhibition home, this is their town as much as it was his, they just can't talk about all the machinations...yet. The conversation had with them would, if I were to share it here, be full of blacked out, off-the-records bits, so I asked them for a statement of the things they could say and here it is!

"Alexander McQueen appreciates the huge amount of interest the public has shown towards the Savage Beauty exhibition. We have been in discussion with a number of major venues in London for some time now however nothing has been finalised. Please be assured that an official announcement will be made the moment we confirm our plans for London."

Success!

Alexander MQueen SS1993 (Image courtesy of Winter Phoenix's Flickr)

The details are still sketchy, but it now seems certain that Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty will take place at a venue to be confirmed in London during 2013, the 20th anniversary of Lee's business. (He started his business a few months after showing his St Martins MA graduation collection named "Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims" in 1992).

The rumour mill is already throwing up some surprising potential venues: Somerset House, The Truman Brewery (where the real Jack the Ripper indeed stalked his victims), The Tower of London, The London Dungeons, Battersea Power Station and some traditional art venues too.

The McQueen team promise to keep us all informed of any developments, so you'll know when I know.

Alexander McQueen AW06/07 (Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty)

THE WEEK IN FASHION 15th-19th AUGUST

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

We've been having an exciting week here at Fashion Editor at Large; on Wednesday we were helping put the finishing touches to Mary Portas' fabulous new concept store in House of Fraser (a project which the FashEd has been very involved in. She is the genius behind 'armery'!). If you're anywhere near Oxford Street then take yourself to the orange lift from where you will be transported into a retail narnia where bellboys and brilliant stylists (passionate, enthusiaistic and knowledgable) will ensure a stress free shopping experience.

Mary with a member of her mannequin army (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

Secondly, our #BRINGMCQUEENEXHIBITIONHOME campaign is really gaining momentum. This week GraziaDaily, Handbag , Evening Standard and The Guardian have all joined us on our mission. While from a personal perspective we might be gunning for this because of our love of great design and beautiful clothes, we passionately believe that this is an exhibition which is important for so many reasons besides that; Lee McQueen's story is an incredibly inspiring one given where he began, what he achieved and his path to those achievements.His legacy will form an integral part of the UK's cultural heritage for many, many years to come so it is only right that we begin as we mean to go on.

Rosamund Urwin's Evening Standard piece from Thursday.

This week, the Global Language Monitor has decided that London has taken over from New York as the world's fashion capital- tell us something we didn't know! This shift has been explained as a consequence of the Royal Wedding and Kate's extremely wise choice to commision Sarah Burton at McQueen to create her wedding dress. This fact really does make bringing the exhibition to London a complete no-brainer. As a graduate of Art History, and clearly someone whose first love is not cutting edge fashion, Kate is the perfect example of how McQueen resonates as a brilliant artist as well as fashion designer.

The eyes of the world on the Middletons in McQueen (Image from Zimbio.com)

Legendary Vogue and Harper's Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland is to be the subject of a book, a documentary AND an exhibition at Venice's Fortuny Museum. Vreeland is a standout figure from 60s and 70s, known for her very particular style and modus operandi. In the photo below, I can't help but think of Miuccia Prada and her banana earrings- I know Vreeland's jewellery is a shark's tooth, or similar, but the quirkiness is just as cool. We can't wait to absorb all we can from these upcoming Vreeland themed projects, in  the meantime, some rather brilliant quotes.

A style tip - 'I always wear my sweater back to front, it is so much more flattering'

On taste- 'I'm a great believer in vulgarity - if it's got vitality.  A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika.  We all need a splash of bad taste - it's hearty it's healthy, it's physical.  I think we could use more of it.  NO taste is what I'm against'

Vreeland, animated (image from nymag.com)

London College of Fashion represents yet another reason why our city fully deserves its global fashion capital status. So, we are thrilled that the College is to open a pop-up shop on Carnaby Street to coincide with London Fashion Week. Among the designers whose wares will be sold in the space are William Tempest, Ada Zanditon, Beatrice Boyle and Hesan Hejazi. Opening night is on September 8th (Vogue's Fashion Night Out) and the shop will be part of the Carnaby Catwalk event on the 10th.

William Tempest's AW11, illustrated by Victoria Lyons (Image from thefashionscou.blogspot.com)

Nicholas Ghesquiere was interviewed this week by WWD. Bridget Foley's piece offers some particularly notable insights into the development of Balenciaga over the past few years- it seems models have had a lot to do with the label's direction. In fact, if it hadn't been for models spying the prototype of the now massively recognisable Lariat, then it may not ever have been produced on any great scale at all. Ghesquiere tells Foley that 'The handbag element was and is a great element of a growing business'. Balenciaga (as a business) had recognised this and the lariat was simply one of a number of potentials which had been dismissed. Until, that is,'every girl who was walking [the show], including Kate [Moss] came in and was like, ‘What is that? Is it vintage? Is it something that you found at the flea market?’ I was like ‘No, it’s a handbag that we prototyped but just didn’t produce.’

Image from allure-allure.blogspot.com

 Ghesquiere also credits Gisele with steering him away from crazy high heels and back to flats; 'I understood sometimes the pain on the feet... the idea was to have this crazy casting with Gisele and Amber Valleta and Carolyn [Murphy]. They were not used to walking with heels any more. Gisele was worried; she would not work with my heels' These comments are an invaluable insight into the power of the model to override, or drive the creative vision. Ghesquiere clearly believed that the models were more important to Balenciaga than the high heel. Maybe this is also about a woman's perspective though; Ghesquiere admits to exploring the house's archives and finding lots low-heeled shoes, he understood that these would be more comfortable for a woman to wear and such assumptions were confirmed by Gisele, and so the Balenciaga flat was re-born.

Gisele walking for Balenciaga SS11, in flats (Image from dailymail.co.uk)

 After the very exciting news that Isabel Marant is to open a store in London, we were also thrilled to hear that Helmut Lang is also getting in on the act with their biggest European store opening on Westbourne Grove on September 1st. A Helmut Lang shearling coat is top of my AW fantasy shopping list, as modelled by Saskia de Brauw.

Helmut Lang AW11 (Image from Style.com)

Finally, CONGRATULATIONS to Micheal Kors who married Lance Le Pere this week on a beach in New York state. Kors said 'To marry someone as wonderful and special to me as Lance barefoot on a glorious beach is more than I could have dreamed of''. I concur entirely, for I would also like to marry someone as beautiful as Lance, barefoot on a beach.

Lance and Michael (Image from WWD.com)

IF YOU'RE JOINING US FROM THE EVENING STANDARD/GUARDIAN

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Then welcome, and thank you for coming to check out our #bringmcqueenexhibitionhome campaign. Rosamund Urwin and Imogen Fox have said it all. You can read Fashion Editor at Large, Melanie Rickey's thoughts about why this is such an important cause here. Please do take the time to sign the petition by following the widget below,  adding your thoughts in the comment section and tweeting the link with the hashtag #bringmcqueenexhibtionhome.

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For your appreciation, Alexander McQueen FW10, his final collection (style.com)

SIGN THE PETITION #bringMcQueenexhibitionhome

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

This campiagn is starting to gain momentum now. Grazia magazine is supporting the petition on Grazia Daily, Katie Grand of LOVE Magazine, Lucy Yeomans of Harpers Bazaar and Susie Lau of Style Bubble are helping raise awareness so we can #bringMcQueenexhibitionhome. Please add this widget to your blogs, and tweet. This is the beginning of the campaign. It grows from here... we can make it happen.

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#bringMcQueenexhibitionhome

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art closed Monday night, and since then there have been articles writing about its unmitigated success.

Here are the facts in a nutshell: Between opening on May 4 and closing on August 8th, the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty attracted 661,409 visitors, ranking it alongside other major Met successes including Mona Lisa (1963) and Treasures of Tutankhamun (1978.) Demand got so huge the Museum extended the exhibition's run by a week, staying open until midnight on the last two nights.

An eight minute film narrated by Savage Beauty Curator Andrew Bolton

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art said:  "Visitors from across the globe have come to see this remarkable exhibition, and we want to keep it open for as many people as possible. Indeed, these midnight hours will mark a fitting conclusion to this powerful exploration of McQueen's work."

This is great for the Met, for Andrew Bolton who curated Savage Beauty, for Anna Wintour who facilitated it, for the McQueen business and its CEO Jonathan Akeroyd.  It was also an achievement for everyone who contributed to or loaned to Savage Beauty, and of course for everyone who visited the exhibition.

But it is not great for anyone who was unable to get to New York to see it.

On Tuesday Imran Amed wrote on his Business of Fashion.com website that the McQueen:Savage beauty exhibition needs to travel the world. But I would like to amend that, and put it out there that the exhibition should just come home, where it belongs.

The fact remains that the exhibition should have been staged in London. It is a well known fact that most British people who have considered the matter think that the McQueen exhibition took place in New York without a forward plan to bring it to London, is a scandal.

Alexander  McQueen FW 2009

So I have humbly started a social media campaign to bring the exhibition back to the place where it belongs, where it should have been in the first place - home to London.

WHY THE MCQUEEN EXHIBITION SHOULD COME HOME

1. Lee Alexander McQueen was born and raised in London by Londoners.
2. He was educated at London's most famous art school St Martins School of Art, and trained on London's most famous tailoring street, Savile Row
3. He lived, worked and was largely inspired by London.
4. He began and made his name and career in London
5. He loved London
6. The Alexander McQueen business is based in London, and directed by an English designer.
6. British people want this

Alexander McQueen SS 1999

I've spoken to the Victoria & Albert Museum, who say "we would love to host the exhibition, we have spoken to the fashion house about it as we really want to present McQueen's work to our huge fashion and design audience here in the UK."

I've spoken to the team at McQueen who say "we have no concrete plans at present but are thrilled with the obvious appreciation of the exhibition at the Met and are waiting until the end of the exhibition before making any further decisions."

So, now its up to us.

Please comment on why you want McQueen: Savage beauty home and sign the petition.

Lets make this happen!  

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Tweet #bringMcQueenexhibitonhome