JOAN OF ARC A/W

Inspired by the murders of Joan of Arc and of the Romanov family, Alexander McQueen’s Fall 1998 show took on a dark, sinister feeling. Models had peroxide blonde hair worn in medieval-inspired styles (sans eyebrows), and sported blood-red contact lenses. Twhe collection itself was very tough; tailored, sequined, patterned with prints of the Romanov children. In keeping with the Joan of Arc theme, several models wore dresses of chainmail, and the color palette featured blood red, black, and silver. His signature tartan was present, and the red lace dress covering the face was worn by Lady Gaga at the MTV awards a decade later. There were even pieces of armor, as shown above in the fourth figure. It was the _finale of the show, however, that would garner the most attention. The final model, wearing a beaded red dress that covered her face, was encircled in a ring of fire (a direct reference to Joan of Arc, who was burned a the stake). She writhed and moved around as the fire grew.

wIn the words of Andrew Bolton: “The finale of this particular collection involved a woman walking down the runway styled like molten ash that has solidified. And at the end of it, she had centered herself on the catwalk and a ring of fire sprung up around her. The collection itself had many references to Joan of Arc—garments that were made out of chainmail, but also garments inspired by menswear. Joan of Arc was famous for contravening the conventions of gender in her dress. McQueen rarely used supermodels, beyond Kate Moss. He preferred models who were not that well known, or if they were, he liked disguising their features on the runway with treatments that in a way obliterated their identities. So this particular piece is quite typical of McQueen in terms of the fact that it is covering her face. We are totally unaware of who the actual model is.

Alexander McQueen was one of the greatest artistic visionaries of all time. His fantasy was one of profound but deeply transgressive beauty. He could embrace the surreal and obscure in such a beautifully macabre way. His creative vision was always ahead of the time. I admire McQueen’s work because of his talent to blend tradition with modernity and translate it into beautiful garments with a dash of subversion. In the end, I have to mention his, one would say harsh upbringing, homosexual struggles, or sexual abuse at a very young age which play an important role in his creative career and give me a lot of courage and motivation to continue forward in the fashion world.

words by Barbora Necpalová

I have been admiring Alexander McQueen since my earliest memory in life. My first ever touch with him was when my mom wore a pair of McQueen’s sandals at my baptism. After that my love for Lady Gaga at the age of 6 blossomed and a main reason was her style, which was mainly creations of Alexander’s. His boldness and daring to provoke always inspired me and helped me think and feel ouside of the box. My favourite ever runway show is the Joan of Arc 1998 channeling history’s tragic feminist figure Joan of Arc, “Joan” told a story of strength, martyrdom, and the Old World. Staples of the collection included chainmail-inspired mesh, Romanov image-printed suits, elongated foreheads à la Queen Elizabeth I, and glaring red eye contacts. As many of his collections brought in a natural element, “Joan” ended with a ring of fire circling a model.

words by Myrto Savvidi

source list images: vogue runway british vogue mancunion

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Alexander McQueen book