Alexander McQueen was a creative genius and visionary and it’s impossible to imagine the world of fashion without him. The 40 year old award-winning British designer died on Thursday, February 11th at his London home.
McQueen liked to push people’s buttons. With the help of music-video producer Sam Gainsbury he transformed his catwalk shows into spectacular cinematic productions. The staging of his fashion shows were epic, intense productions that had something elemental – water, ice, fire, or live animals – taking you inside a world of his own creation, his shows transported you to another place. That was McQueen’s plan – he wanted you to feel breathless, shocked and full of emotion watching his show.
When you pulled back the curtain backstage at his show you never knew what was going to happen, but you always knew it was going to be something out of this world. Our crew was at his last show in Paris on October 6, 2009 and were one of the lucky few that were able to shoot backstage.
The show called Plato’s Atlantis was perhaps one of his most extraordinary – an sensory explosion of fashion, beauty, technology and art. Alexander McQueen may be gone but he has left us with some of the most powerful visual experiences the world of fashion will ever know. We will all really miss him.
