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Alexander McQueen, Fall/Winter 2009
Alexander McQueen, Fall/Winter 1999
Corset with spine, Alexander McQueen, Spring/Summer 1998
Designer shaun Leane’s DeLiciousLy twisteD corsets, jeweLry, anD metaLwork have DefineD a raDicaL shape for the human boDy, whether it beLongs to Daphne guinness or the suLtan of brunei It’s a Monday afternoon in London, and Shaun Leane is, as he says, “a busy, busy bee.” Luckily, he likes it that way. As British fashion’s most outrageous and adored jeweler, Leane, whose company just celebrated ten years in the business, has proved hard work pays off. Recent projects include a $6.5-million diamond brooch for De Beers, a one-of-a-kind necklace featuring opening and closing flowers in blue sapphire for Boucheron’s 36
beautiful mistress of Napoleon the Third,” he explains. “She was banished because of the scandal and became a recluse. The flowers open to represent her beauty and then close to represent when she closed herself off from the world.” “I want to create pieces that will last longer than I will,” he adds, “that people will know as Shaun Leane and recognize as 21st-century design.” Not that to be a Leane fan you need to wear an elaborate steel structure. His commercial collection, which translates big themes into small but perfectly formed pieces, has steadily grown over the years. “Designers give you a very free brief, and I often use those elements for my commercial collections,” says Leane. “I made a cherry-blossom piece for Swarovski Fashion Rocks in 2008 where the blossom formed a headpiece on the girl. It then became a motif for smaller pieces.” This mix of commercial and catwalk, innovation and tradition, suits Leane rather well. Presently, he has expanded his designer collaborations to include up-and-coming London star Todd Lynn and has plans to open his own shop in the not-toodistant future. But while his company may be on the up, it’s still based in Hatton Garden, his old training ground. “I love it here,” he says. “It’s home.” Lauren Cochrane Still life photography David Hughes
Photo assistant Simon Farrant Special thanks Pro-Vision Studios, London McQueen 2009 runway photography courtesy Getty Images
HEAVY METAL
150 th anniversary, and an as-yet-to-be-announced project with Daphne Guinness that Leane promises will be “totally new.” But it is his revolutionary work for Alexander McQueen, which began in 1992, that first made the fashion world take notice. Together, the two have pushed the boundaries of jewelry, creating romantic, slightly macabre designs that cling to the body like a magnificent second skin. Take, for example, the Victorian mourning pieces subverted into clothing for the designer’s infamous Fall 1995 “Highland Rape” collection—or Leane’s personal favorite, the coiled body armor that was literally screwed together with the model inside it for the Fall 1999 show. “We made museum pieces,” he says. “Jewelry became body sculpture.” Like McQueen, who trained on Savile Row, Leane has made tradition the backbone of his aesthetic. When the two met, Leane was a goldsmith in Hatton Garden, London’s renowned home of fine jewelry, where he had been apprenticing since he was 16. “We made stuff for Asprey and Mappin & Webb,” he recalls. “I created pieces for the Sultan of Brunei! But I was really eager to flex my creative muscles, and McQueen pushed me to do that.” Blessed with an impressive imagination, Leane dispenses with the idea of “just thinking of a product” and instead seeks a certain lyricism with his work. “I am inspired by history and poetry—I like the idea of capturing beauty.” Take the Boucheron necklace: “I was thinking of the Countess de Castiglione, the