McQueen review: A new feature focusses on the late designer, his rags-to-riches story, and his massive influence on the fashion world.
McQueen review by Tina Baraga.
McQueen review
Breath-taking, thrilling and beautifully produced, McQueen is the much-anticipated new documentary about the life and work of one of Britain’s best-loved designers. Combining never-before-seen footage, fashion clips and interviews with friends and family, director-writer duo Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui have created a perfect homage to the artistic and creative genius of Alexander McQueen.
Born in the far less glitzy world of London’s East End, Alexander McQueen left high school at the early age of sixteen to start his fashion career as a tailor on London’s Savile Row. After a short stint in Milan it was persistence that led him to convince Bobby Hillson, then Head of Masters courses at Central Saint Martins, to let him enroll as a student at the prestigious university. But it was not until his infamous graduation collection “Jack The Ripper Stalks His Victims” that McQueen got the attention of the world’s fashion editors, stylists and his greatest champion, Isabella Blow.
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Despite a seemingly meteoric rise to stardom, as well as being awarded British Designer of the Year only four years after his graduation, McQueen’s ascend to the top of British fashion was paved with dedication, hard work, and a relentless persistence. It was his appointment as Chief Designer at Givenchy that finally cemented Alexander’s name in the fashion world. However, his heart and soul was always his own McQueen brand, on which he continued to work during his tenure at Givenchy, and which became a commercial success after being acquired by the Gucci group in 2000.
Examining more than just this impressive and uncharacteristic CV, Bonhôte and Ettedgui have sectioned the film into “tapes” themed around his collections, to look at McQueen’s professional successes and personal stresses and show how the two blended and contradicted.
McQueen review
The film brings to light some of McQueen’s most striking characteristics. His down to earth attitude is perfectly portrayed through his reluctance to act as a diva designer during his time at Givenchy. In one memorable scene, his design team describes how Alexander would eat with the rest of the seamstresses and workers in the staff canteen, something unheard of at the French fashion house. Shining through the perfectly pieced-together footage is also McQueen’s rebelliousness and determination to not let the fashion business constrict his creative freedom.
However, what Bonhôte and Ettedgui master best is McQueen’s dark side, by trying to understand the demons that tortured the icon without letting it overpower the film. While not being afraid to tackle his sometimes tumultuous relationship with his mentor Isabella Blow, as well as dig deep into the scars of his childhood, they manage to avoid pigeonholing the designer as a tortured artist. Despite his demons, McQueen leaves a lasting impression of Alexander as not only a creative genius but also someone who was always up for a laugh.
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From humble beginnings as the son of an East End cab driver to his hectic days at the top of the fashion world, McQueen is an intimate look at one of Britain’s most outrageously gifted designers, a visionary masterpiece deserving of Alexander’s passion and talents.
“If you leave without emotion, then I’m not doing my job properly,” McQueen once famously said after one of his early fashion shows. “I don’t want you to walk out feeling you’ve just had Sunday lunch. I want you to be repulsed or exhilarated.” Bonhôte and Ettedgui have certainly done their job, guaranteeing you won’t be leaving McQueen feeling like you’ve just had Sunday lunch.
McQueen review by Tina Baraga.
McQueen is released in UK cinemas on Friday 8th June 2018.
