Cultural Artifact – Alexander McQueen Spring 1999 Ta, Brandon

C02313670

Cultural Artifact – Alexander McQueen Spring 1999

Preliminary notes:
Specific Purpose: The purpose of this speech is to inform the audience of a cultural artifact by
examining its history, meaning, and impact: specifically Alexander McQueen’s Spring
1999 show.
Thesis Statement:
Outline:
Introduction: “Savage Beauty.” That was the title of a retrospective curated by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art that exhibited work by one, singular artist: Alexander McQueen.
Clarification Step/Topic Announcement: That title perfectly encapsulates what
McQueen had offered the world: beauty and savagery, delicacy and protection,
power and vulnerability. And out of it all, the Spring 1999 collection entitled “No.
13” exemplifies this dichotomy.
Thesis Statement: Alexander McQueen’s Spring 1999 show is a defining moment in
fashion history. This collection, and especially the two moments that opened and
closed the show, changed perceptions in fashion and art.
Preview: We’ll start with a brief history of Alexander McQueen himself and how he got
to this point in his career, then we will examine two significant moments of the
Spring 1999 show in turn.
1.st Main Idea: By 1999, Alexander McQueen was only 29 years old and a force in fashion, but it
was not without great effort and hardship.
1.1. Alexander McQueen grew up a rebellious child of a poor working class family from
London.
1.1.1. At age 16, he left school and began an apprenticeship at London’s famous
Savile Row where he honed skills in tailoring and displayed great potential.
1.2. Due to his seemingly boundless talent, he was granted special commendation to
complete a Master’s program at Central St. Martins in London, the premier fashion
school in England
1.2.1. His graduating collection entitled “Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims” was
so successful that it was bought in full by collector Isabella Blow, thus
beginning his career in the world of high fashion.
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1.3. He launched his eponymous line in 1992.
1.3.1. In only four years after the launch of his line he was appointed as the head
designer for the French fashion house Givenchy.
1.3.2. At the time of the Spring 1999 show, he was incredibly well regarded. Top
models asked to walk in his shows for only £100, and he famously turned
down Victoria Beckham’s request for an invitation (Bolton, Frankel, &
Blanks, 2011).
1.4. All of this personal history is according to the book Alexander McQueen: Savage
Beauty that was published to coincide with the exhibit at the Met.
Transition: Now that we know about Alexander McQueen, let’s get to the show in question.
2.nd Main Idea: The first look of the show was worn by Aimee Mullens [SLIDE 2], and with this
look, McQueen immediately calls into question the beliefs and prejudices of the audience.
2.1. Aimee was a Paralympic athlete. And those “leather” boots that you see: they are not
boots, [SLIDE 3] they are a pair of prosthetic legs, intricately carved out of wood and
as per the Victoria and Albert Museum: were fitted specifically for Aimee Mullins
(The Victoria and Albert Museum, 2019).
2.1.1. This illusion was so successful that stylists asked immediately after the show
to borrow the boots for photoshoots and editorials, which of course, was
impossible
2.2. By casting Mullens, McQueen wanted to challenge what we saw as beautiful. It was
his intention to show that beauty can come from many sources, many of which we
may not expect or traditionally consider beautiful.
2.2.1. [SLIDE 4] The look as a whole is beautiful and well-crafted. To the fashion
industry in the 1990’s, disability was not beautiful. Disability was
undeserving of so-called “high fashion.” McQueen turned that notion on its
head with this piece.
2.2.2. Mullins was quoted in The Guardian as saying that she agreed to be a part of
the show because [CLICK] she “want[ed] to be seen as beautiful because of
[her] disability, not in spite of it” (Frankel, Able to be Beautiful, 1998).
Transition: [BLANK SLIDE] The last moment of the show is a powerful one; harrowing and
rapturous, its iconic image still lingers in the fashion world.
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3.rd Main Idea: In it, model and former ballerina Shalom Harlow stands in a pure white dress
upon a spinning dais as robotic arms come to life and begin spraying her with black and
fluorescent yellow paint. [START VIDEO (The Metropolitain Meuseum of Art, 2011)]
3.1. There are many interpretations of this event, and in many Alexander McQueen’s
signature display of duality [SLIDE 7] can be observed.
3.1.1. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. It was both fashion and art.
Violent in act and serene in aftermath.
3.1.2. Viewers had posited that it could symbolize technology’s assault on
traditional craftsmanship, sexual release (male), or death itself.
3.2. This moment was and still is, as Sarah Mowers of Vouge put it [SLIDE 8]: “heart-
stoppingly inspirational” (Mowers, 2018).
3.2.1. According to Susannah Frankel of AnOther Magazine, crying during an
Alexander McQueen show was not uncommon due to the raw emotion they
invoked, but this was the first time McQueen himself had ever shed a tear
during one of his shows (Frankel, The Magnificent Impact of Alexander
McQueen S/S99, 2016).
3.2.2. Today, Fashion houses put on extremely elaborate shows, and pull ever-
increasingly expensive and outrageous stunts, all in search of a truly authentic
moment so they may connect with their audience. All McQueen needed was
a white dress, a couple of borrowed robots, and paint. [CLICK]
Conclusion:
Review: So now we know a little bit about McQueen’s history up until his Spring 1999
show, as well as two moments in that show that reflect his design ethos perfectly.
Conclusion: Alexander McQueen was a master of his art and a truly authentic voice within
the world of fashion. His beautiful, uncompromised work straddles the precipice
between multiple, opposing meanings and often challenges the viewer’s
perceptions. Fashion has never been the same since Alexander McQueen, and it’s
all for the better.
Cultural Artifact – Alexander McQueen Spring 1999 Ta, Brandon
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Works Cited

Bolton, A., Frankel, S., & Blanks, T. (2011). Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. New York:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Frankel, S. (1998, September 28). Able to be Beautiful. The Guardian, pp. 4-5.
Frankel, S. (2016, October 31). The Magnificent Impact of Alexander McQueen S/S99. Retrieved
from AnOther Magazine: http://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/9225/the-
magnificent-impact-of-alexander-mcqueen-ss99
Mowers, S. (2018, September 13). Remembering the Potent Performance Art of Alexander
McQueen’s Collection No. 13—20 Years Later. Retrieved from Vogue:
https://www.vogue.com/article/alexander-mcqueen-no-13
The Metropolitain Meuseum of Art. (2011). No. 13, Shalom Harlow. New York City, New York,
United States of America.
The Victoria and Albert Museum. (2019). Prosthetic legs. Retrieved from The Museum of
Savage Beauty: https://www.vam.ac.uk/museumofsavagebeauty/mcq/prosthetic-legs/