Alexander McQueen's Final Collection - Paris 2010        

 Paris Fashion Week this season was especially poignant, as it included the bittersweet finale to Alexander McQueen’s stunning career, tragically ended by his recent suicide. His ultimate collection was shown in a gilded salon at the headquarters of Francois Pinault. The sixteen looks were accompanied by elegiac opera music, and it is said that there were tears in the eyes of many spectators. 

McQueen’s inspiration ranged from Byzantine art to the wood carving and sculpture of Grinling Gibbons. With shimmering skullcaps (some featuring Mohawks reminiscent of the horse-hair crests on ancient centurion helmets) the costumes – and yes, the word “costumes” is appropriate – were an exotic mixture of ancient past and distant future. It was regal and remote, evoking extraterrestrials and Roman empresses.

McQueen was never a man who followed the pack – or even joined it. His collections have always inhabited a world disparate from that of other designers, and this one may have topped all those that came before. He relied on gold, sangria red, and black to bring his vision to life. To start, bodysuits in classic McQueen graphic prints were paired with cartoonish, low-slung bubble skirts. Next, we saw a red, bell-sleeved wrap dress paired with a high-collared sequined top, a black obi belt, and matching thigh-high boots. There was a thick, dandelion-printed pantsuit with dramatic, exaggerated draping at the bust; a stunningly tailored gold-brocaded black cape-dress; and an ethereal, cap-sleeved white-and-grey chiffon gown.

The pieces in this collection seemed to conjure up angels and demons (the actual beings, not the novel). There was a tug of war between good and evil, light and dark – and the struggle had a decisive outcome in its final piece. The pièce de résistance of this positively remarkable collection was a gown constructed from neck to knees entirely of gilt feathers – including an Elizabethan collar made of the stuff. The bottom portion of the gown was white tulle, brocaded in delicate gold floral detailing around the edges, which gave the gown a mermaid silhouette. The overall effect was not only splendid, but absolutely unearthly.

          This collection’s evident vacillation between the dark and the light seems a plaintive reference to what McQueen must have been experiencing in his troubled last days. The ending of the show with a triumph by heavenly forces is both a sad reminder of McQueen’s lost battle with his inner demons, and a hopeful beacon of his freedom from those demons now.