The late Alexander McQueen remains a legendary, looming figure within fashion. At times, he shunned the standards of the industry and often compelled controversy. Whatever your feelings about him, you can't deny how he made his way in the business, which is what a recent Telegraph piece looks back on as McQueens' Savage Beauty exhibit moves to London, this time with an additional portion featuring his early work.
Toward the end of McQueen's career, his designs were extravagant and over-the-top, but, as it usually tends to go, his beginnings were basically the exact opposite. According to Katy England, a stylist who worked closely with McQueen in the early days, "There were a lot of those fantastical couture-like pieces he became known for, but the early days were nothing like that. It was literally any fabric he could lay his hands on or that he could beg, steal or borrow. I think you see a real rawness to this time. I suppose the fabrics were cheap, so then he would think, 'What can I do to make them more interesting?' So he put car spray paint on or latex."
It's important to note that McQueen wasn't always as revered as he is now. People weren't initially drawn to his shock value and it took a long time for them to come around. Of course, revisionist history has altered his legacy some as nearly everyone is a McQueen fan now. "People have forgotten that now; they've romanticised it. But if you go back to those days, they didn't really know what to expect - that he would be aggressive or you would feel awkward," England says.
The entire piece is an interesting trip back in time to the days when fashion was a lot more ramshackle and unorganized than it is now, a reminder of sorts of just how much the industry has changed over the past two decades or so.
