We may not be party to the plans of every fashion curator but there can be little doubt that the fashion exhibition of the year for 2015 is already decided. This spring the V&A will present the only major retrospective in Europe of the work of the visionary fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen. Today's press briefing was packed and the excitement palpable. With the support of exhibition sponsors Swarovski and American Express, Claire Wilcox, Senior Curator of Fashion at the V&A can fulfil her long held dream of bringing Savage Beauty, originated by the Costume Institute at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, to London – the birthplace of McQueen.
Edited and expanded for the V&A’s large exhibition galleries, it will feature 30 additional garments, including some rare early pieces, lent by private individuals and collectors such as Katy England and Annabelle Neilson as well as pieces from the Isabella Blow Collection and the House of Givenchy. A new section will be added to the exhibition, focusing on McQueen’s fledgling development as a designer in London. Other new garments that will be displayed include a red ballet dress from The Girl Who Lived in the Tree (A/W 2008-9) and a white feathered dress from The Horn of Plenty (A/W 2009-10).
The handful of garments on display today and the incredible footage shown from McQueen's unrivalled catwalk shows made it easy to see why, months in advance, thousands of tickets have already been sold. Book now in person at the V&A; online at
www.vam.ac.uk/savagebeauty; or by calling 0800 912 6961 (booking fee applies).
Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty
14 March-19 July 2015
Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Images
It's Only a Game, S/S 2005, Alexander McQueen
Duck feather dress, The Horn of Plenty, A/W 2009-10, Alexander McQueen, Model: Magdalena Frackowiak, Image: firstVIEW
Dress of dyed ostrich feathers and hand-painted microscopic slides,Voss, S/S 2001, Alexander McQueen, Model: Erin O’Connor, Image: REX
Jellyfish ensemble and Armadillo shoes, Plato’s Atlantis, S/S 2010,Alexander McQueen, Model: Polina Kasina, © Lauren Greenfield/INSTITUTE
