In Lee Alexander McQueen’s working Few designers have creative and personal ‘Sanitarium’, which showed writer life, determination continually clashed paths so intrinsically linked to the push- Michelle Olley laying naked on a chaise- with drawbacks. For INDIE, four of the and-pull of fashion, to its soaring highs longue covered in moths, her face hidden designer’s key collaborators speak about and shattering lows. From his haunting behind a mask with a breathing tube the long-lasting impact of his inimitable graduate collection at Central Saint attached. With sanity and vanity colliding journey. Martins in 1992—bought in its entirety in their most extreme forms, McQueen by soon-to-be confdante — couldn’t have been more poignant. “Tat’s me!” Alexander McQueen is to the sartorial tales of tenderness and quoted as declaring in Dana Tomas’ torture that he sent down the runway, Tree years later, his SS 04 ofering, titled book on the designer’s career, Gods McQueen’s designs were always heavy Deliverance, famously touched on the and Kings. Having just watched a with commentary, ofen accompanied by breathlessness a career in fashion can documentary on gazelles, he was razor-sharp hints at fashion’s fetishisation ofen entail. Referencing Sydney Pollack’s reminiscing about the inspiration for his of fame, fortune, beauty and the beasts. flm Tey Shoot Horses, Don’t Tey? AW 97 collection It’s a Jungle out about a fatal dance marathon, McQueen Tere—and about his own part in Such was the show he staged for It’s similarly had models and professional fashion’s searing savannah. “Someone’s a Jungle out Tere in February 1997, dancers compete dressed in his new chasing me all the time,” he went on, translating the animalistic themes he collection and desperately trying to keep “and, if I’m caught, they’ll pull me had previously noticed into nothing less up until the last contestant collapsed on down.” than a creative roar—think models with stage. bushy manes and oversized black cat eyes, Whether verbally or visually, Alexander blazers with pointed shoulders or horns Fashion did, and certainly still does, ofen McQueen seldom shied away from erupting from their backs. Having just feel like this race—not just to McQueen, declaring his discontent with certain parts been named chief designer at , and not just if you’re an infamous young of fashion as a system, environment and and with a mildly received frst haute talent juggling the design directorship workplace. And within an industry that is couture collection for the French fashion of two labels. With a pressure for both increasingly questioning its web of ethics house still in rear view, McQueen wasn’t presence—parties! Fashion weeks! and expectations, those words uttered there to play it safe—or by anyone’s rules, Social media!—and pulsating ideas some 22 years ago—and the designer’s for that matter. being put on designers of every age journey itself—still feel remarkably raw and in every stage of their careers, and disarmingly intimate, not to mention VOSS, the SS 01 show attached to his maintaining a clear head and a clean PRISON the unanimous appeal both Alexander collection of the same name, is infamous vision can become increasingly difcult. McQueen the person and the brand to this day for its candid commentary on Yet the industry seems to still have an seem to hold to this day. In 2011, one the industry’s weakness for voyeurism ambiguous relationship to weakness and year afer his suicide, Savage Beauty, the and its ofen-narrow understanding of imperfection, an astonishing reluctance exhibition dedicated to the late designer beauty. Seated in front of a mirrored towards anything less than superhuman. by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in cube, attendees were lef staring at their New York became the museum’s then own refection as McQueen deliberately In light of this issue’s theme, four of OF PAIN most popular ofering. Just last year, Ian delayed the beginning of the show. As McQueen’s long-time confdantes told us Bonhôte’s documentary on McQueen was the stage fnally lit up, haunted models about the invaluable lessons from their released to impressive box ofce numbers, appeared, observable through the journeys with the late designer—and why while two feature flms—one a biopic by cube’s walls yet unable to see the staring his personal one continues to be so crucial Andrew Haigh, the other focusing on his audience themselves. Aferwards, another for fashion and the people shaping it. relationship with Isabella Blow—are still cube was revealed, and inside: an even in the works. more transfxing scene, modelled afer AND PALACE artist Joel-Peter Witkin’s photograph

OF PLEASURE By TRISHA BALSTER Continue reading for exclusive quotes from Simon Ungless, , Mira Chai Hyde, and Ann Ray.

SIMON UNGLESS

From studying with Alexander McQueen on the fashion MA incredibly toxic. Too much regurgitation of course at Central Saint Martins, to working on a number of his early collections, to living above the designer in a house he rented ideas, way too many products, and far too in Tooting, , Simon Ungless was one of the designer’s much hype. Fashion has become a monster closest fiends and collaborators. He continues to be an advocate eating itself, too many collections, too many for boundary-pushing fashion, currently holding the role of fashion director at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. fashion weeks and too many ‘designers’ who aren’t really designers. Too many investors “Lee was completely diferent to the other needing a result. Everything today is outcome students in our year at CSM. His work was driven and dollar driven. It leaves very little diferent, and his outlook and attitude were opportunity for chance. Lee was allowed diferent. He was devoid of the ‘rules’ we to develop at a realistic rate, not having to had all been taught in school but was very prove sales for several seasons, allowing him hungry to learn and so was totally interested to mature as a designer. One lesson the next in everyone else’s work and very vocal. He generation can learn from him is to say no. had opinions on everything, which was also Say no to publications, say no to stores and out of the ordinary. Working with Lee was say no to celebrities. Lee was very clear on a partnership, we would work together on a this. Have a clear vision of who you are and project, learning from each other. We lived stick to it. Today’s tendency is to say yes to and worked in the same place and making everything, have every piece of trash sat in things was just what we did. It was a fun your front row and make everything about exploration into just doing it, trying things, the bullshit and not about the clothes. But I experimenting. We didn’t have a dress form do see a group of new designers starting out for a while during the Taxi Driver time. that a very clear vision and the skill set... Lee would drape and cut on me, quickly to back it up—Edwin Mohney, Stefan Cooke sew up the garment and then I’d dip it in and Matty Bovan, for example. I hope they latex, or resin, or print it. It was immediate, are allowed the space and time to develop in potentially unplanned and completely real time.” enjoyable. Very ofen there was no planned outcome, just doing, seeing how things worked.

Back then, the fashion industry flled me with excitement and wonder. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be part of the magic of it all. Recent years have felt

SHAUN LEANE

Originally trained as a fne goldsmith, Shaun Leane created the still agenda-setting jewellery for the Alexander McQueen and Givenchy shows—including the coiled necklaces of It’s a Jungle out Tere and life-sized pieces resembling animal skeletons. Leane met McQueen in 1992, and was continuously challenged by him to try his hand at working with new and unusual materials. He was also one of the speakers at McQueen’s funeral on 20 September 2010 in London.

“My initial sense of Lee was his shyness, but even though he was shy, he had a strong underlying confdence in his own being. Lee was part of an amazing zeitgeist where many mediums intersected—music, contemporary art, photography and flm. All of this was made possible by his fearlessness to create a silhouette and an idea of fashion that represented the 21st century. For me, one of the most confdent and freeing elements about collaborating with Lee was that in his mind and his approach, nothing was impossible. He challenged me to think outside the box and apply my skills to a diferent medium to create the pieces we did. He gave me a creative platform on which there were no boundaries; Unique creativity comes from the freedom to fail.” MIRA CHAI HYDE

During the 1990s, the now Los Angeles–based groomer invited Alexander McQueen to live with her in her fat in London’s Hoxton neighbourhood afer he moved into the same building a month before, his studio set up in the basement. Hyde quickly became a close confdante, responsible for hair and grooming at his shows, and sometimes even cutting McQueen’s own hair.

“What diferentiated Lee’s way of working from other people I have collaborated with over the years was that with other designers, their stylist or creative director would explain the look of the show and what they thought the hair and make-up should be like and then the look would be okayed during the fttings on the boys days before the show. But Lee gave me creative room to interpret his vision. He would come by every once in a while to have a look. I never heard from him ‘this is great’—I just knew if he didn’t say ‘nay’ to anything he was happy. We had fun and we had so much creative energy around us. Now it is more about numbers, it seems, and less about the creative process and the pressures it puts on their creatives to keep producing more and more for the consumers. I believe the most important lessons we should learn from his career when looking at today’s fashion landscape is that Lee got to where he was through sheer determination and guts. He put himself out there in every avenue in order to get to learn from the very bottom the basics of his craf, every inch of it. You need to learn the basics in order to tear it apart but still make it look like a piece of art.”

ANN RAY

Te French visual artist and director collaborated with Alexander McQueen for 13 years in a variety of ways. Ray and McQueen met in 1996 just as he had been appointed chief designer at Givenchy. Apart fom her personal projects, Ray is known for these deep connections and collaborations with exceptional artists. Working with McQueen and Givenchy, Ray photograped the creative process of 46 shows.

“People like Lee McQueen are rare and precious. As for myself, the fgures speak for themselves: Tey have a massive impact on whoever has the for 22 years I have been working for Lee privilege to get close to them. I always saw him as McQueen, in one way or another; thirteen years an artist—based on my frst impressions when I of his life, 46 shows (!), an archive of 35,000 met him, as much as on his own words: ‘fashion analogue photographs, that I still manage alone. is just the medium’. So... have I been privileged? Absolutely—I would not be the person I am today without Millions of artists have good, or very good ideas. Lee and I am endlessly grateful; and has it been Hundreds of artists have extraordinary ideas. wonderful? Honestly, it’s been terrible and Te difculty—and therefore the genius—is to magnifcent, before and afer 2010. Far from make it happen, to give the idea shape and to easy. I just perform my duty: nobody else has so deliver. Tat’s what Lee did, as an artist. ‘Genius’ much material, it’s a responsibility; photographs is a word from outside; no decent person can hold the naked truth, they can’t lie. I can thus think of him or herself as a genius; Lee certainly pay homage to my friend through books and couldn’t—he was far too grounded for that. exhibitions with honesty, dignity and poetry— what I believe is right. Creation is a lonely act: Lee surely had a lot to express. However, the result delivered to the Beauty is simplicity. Lee and I had a simple, audience was the sum of works made by a creator beautiful relationship, never altered over 13 and his team. You don’t do anything alone— years. I only realised how famous he had become there are always dedicated people in the shadow. afer he died. I’m talking about pure fame here, People who work with you, put you in the light, something that leaves me indiferent. What I help and support. So if you want to admire Lee fnd intimidating is talent and, in that respect, McQueen, you have to admire his team too: I had been intimidated by Lee since the very people deeply devoted to Lee, like Isabella Blow, beginning. His journey has to be remembered Annabelle Neilson, Sarah Burton, Amie Witton, because it has been a journey without , Shaun Leane, and myself, to name compromise. Lessons in life, for everyone. Not a few. It’s important to say this, for once, since just in fashion.” Lee wouldn’t have gone so far, and would not In 2018, Ray revealed a selection of 169 photographs from her extensive archive (spanning 35.000 images) at the prestigious Rencontres d’Arles Photo Festival. The stunning exhibition, titled ‘Les Inachevés’ (The Unfinished)—Lee McQueen has been applauded by both professionals and the audience. The images featured on these pages have also been part of the exhibition. Apart from this, Ray’s photographic and film be remembered today as he is without all these work has been shown in private and institutional collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, the Foundation Carmignac, Paris, the Collection Bachelot, Paris, or the Collection Yvon Lambert, Avignon. Her next project, a photographic exhibition titled Blind Faith, will be presented in Venezia in 2019 at Ca Pesaro Museum. She currently resides in Paris after having previously been based in Tokyo and London. people around him.