A–Z of Alexander McQueen

by brownfashionagal

A — Apprenticeship
Before Alexander McQueen was mythologised, he was trained. Properly. Savile Row shaped him more than any runway ever could. At Anderson & Sheppard and later Gieves & Hawkes, McQueen learned discipline, precision, and respect for the body. This foundation explains why even his most extreme garments were structurally sound. Shock without skill collapses quickly. McQueen never did.

B — Bumsters
The bumster trousers were not a gimmick. They were a re-engineering of proportion. By lowering the waistline dramatically at the back, McQueen lengthened the torso and shifted how sexuality functioned in clothing. It was controversial, yes, but also historically significant. Very few designers genuinely create a new silhouette. McQueen did it before he was famous.

C — Class
Class is the invisible thread through McQueen’s work. Coming from East London, he entered an industry that still quietly polices who belongs. His aggression, refusal to soften, and disdain for polite fashion etiquette were not accidental. They were reactions. McQueen never tried to assimilate. He forced the system to deal with him on his terms.

D — Death
Death was not a theme for shock value. It was philosophical. McQueen was interested in mortality, decay, and transformation. Skulls, taxidermy, ghosts, and references to the afterlife recur because he saw fashion as temporary by nature. Clothing dies the moment it is worn. He leaned into that truth rather than denying it.

E — East London
Lewisham. Stratford. Hoxton. These places mattered. McQueen’s aesthetic did not come from Paris salons. It came from streets, clubs, council houses, and industrial spaces. Even when he showed in Paris, his work carried London’s grit and defiance.

F — Femininity
McQueen’s women were never passive. He dressed women as warriors, predators, queens, and threats. Critics often accused him of misogyny because his work rejected softness as the default expression of femininity. McQueen believed strength was beautiful, and that beauty should intimidate.

G — Givenchy
His time at Givenchy was tense and largely unhappy. The house wanted refinement. McQueen wanted freedom. The mismatch taught him an important lesson: heritage brands come with invisible fences. While Givenchy gave him money and prestige, it also clarified that his true creative home was his own label.

H — Highland Rape
This collection is still misunderstood. It was not about sexual violence. It was about cultural violence. Specifically, England’s historical destruction of Scottish Highland culture. The press fixated on the word “rape” and ignored the context. McQueen was furious, but the controversy permanently cemented his name.

I — Isabella Blow
Isabella Blow was not just a patron. She was a catalyst. She saw McQueen before the world did, bought his graduate collection, shaped his early image, and fought for him relentlessly. Their relationship later fractured, and her suicide in 2007 haunted him deeply. Guilt, grief, and unresolved dependence defined this chapter.

J — Jackets
McQueen’s jackets are masterclasses. Sharp shoulders, cinched waists, aggressive tailoring. He used jackets to control posture and presence. Wearing McQueen often changes how someone stands. That is tailoring doing psychological work.

K — Kering (Gucci Group)
When the Gucci Group acquired 51% of McQueen’s brand in 2000, everything changed. Infrastructure, global reach, accessories, perfumes. McQueen understood this deal was about survival. He gained scale without completely losing control. It is one of the smartest business moves of his career.

L — London Fashion Week
McQueen helped save it. In the 1990s, London Fashion Week was fading. His shows brought international press back, reframing London as the city of experimentation and danger. He made London matter again.

M — Misogyny accusations
These followed him relentlessly. Bloodied models. Bondage references. Distress. McQueen insisted his work was autobiographical and protective, not degrading. The truth is complicated. Some imagery provoked without enough context. Some was deeply misunderstood. His legacy sits in that tension.

N — No. 13
The 1999 show where Shalom Harlow was spray-painted by robotic arms. It is fashion history. Performance art. Industrial versus handmade. Control versus surrender. McQueen cried backstage. It was the only show that ever moved him to tears.

O — Obsession
McQueen was obsessive. About fit. About references. About execution. This intensity produced brilliance, but it also consumed him. Fashion rewards obsession until it punishes it.

P — Plato’s Atlantis
His final completed show. Evolution, climate collapse, post-human bodies. Digitally printed skins and armadillo shoes that altered anatomy. It was futuristic and prophetic. Also the first major runway show livestreamed online. McQueen ended by looking forward.

Q — Queerness
McQueen was openly gay and unapologetic. His work explored eroticism, fluidity, and non-normative desire without sanitising it. Queerness in his work was never decorative. It was structural.

R — Runway as theatre
McQueen did not believe the runway was neutral. It was a stage. Fire, water, mirrors, cages, ice rinks. These were not stunts. They were narrative devices.

S — Skull scarf
Proof that McQueen understood commerce. The skull scarf became a global phenomenon. Conceptual, wearable, recognisable. He used accessories to fund experimentation without diluting his vision.

T — Tailoring
The backbone of everything. Even chaos was cut precisely. This is why McQueen’s work holds up in museums. The craft survives beyond the spectacle.

U — Uncompromising
McQueen rarely softened ideas for approval. When he did, it showed. His best work came from refusal.

V — Voss
The mirrored box. The audience staring at themselves. The final reveal of controlled madness. Voss turned fashion’s gaze inward. One of the most intellectually sharp shows ever staged.

W — Women as armour
McQueen often described clothing as protection. Corsets, sharp shoulders, metalwork. His clothes shielded as much as they revealed.

X — X-ray vision
McQueen saw beneath surfaces. History beneath romance. Violence beneath beauty. Power beneath fashion.

Y — Youth culture
Despite couture-level skill, McQueen remained deeply connected to youth, club culture, and rebellion. He never aged into politeness.

Z — Zero illusion
McQueen never pretended fashion was harmless. He understood its power, cruelty, and beauty simultaneously. That honesty is why his work still matters.