London’s where I was brought up. It’s where my heart is and where I get my inspiration – Alexander McQueen
Next week, the V&A will announce details of its 2015 blockbuster show which will present Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty in London this spring. From March until July, the most successful solo fashion exhibition in the history of New York’s Metropolitan Museum will move across the pond. Since the launch of the NY exhibition, interest and public demand has been so great that the V&A negotiated with the Met and sponsors to mount the show on British soil. This will be the first and largest retrospective of the late designer’s work to be presented in Europe. Originally organised by the Costume Institute ‘Savage Beauty’ will showcase McQueen’s visionary body of work. The exhibition will span his 1992 MA graduate collection and finish with his unfinished A/W 2010 collection, McQueen’s designs will be presented with the dramatic staging and sense of spectacle synonymous with his runway shows.
Martin Roth, V&A Director, said: “ I am thrilled to announce that the V&A will bring this wonderful exhibition to London to celebrate the extraordinary creative talent of one of the most innovative designers of recent times. Lee Alexander McQueen was brought up in London, studied here and based his globally successful McQueen fashion
brand here – by staging the exhibition at the V&A it feels like we are bringing his work home.”
Sarah Burton, Creative Director Alexander McQueen, said: “Savage Beauty is a celebration of the most imaginative and talented designer of our time. Lee was a genius and a true visionary who pushed boundaries, challenged and inspired. He believed in creativity and innovation and his talent was limitless.”The V&A’s presentation of the exhibition is being made possible with the cooperation of Alexander McQueen and will be in partnership with Swarovski, and supported by American Express. Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Swarovski Executive Board, said: “We are honoured to support this landmark exhibition celebrating the creative genius of Alexander McQueen at one of our most distinguished cultural institutions. We were privileged to collaborate creatively with McQueen since 1998 in both fashion and design, and Savage Beauty is an eloquent tribute to the scale of his talent and to his limitless imagination, which conjured looks that were sometimes wild and challenging, but always exquisitely crafted, and always beautiful.
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty V&A 14 March – 19 July 2015 www.vam.ac.uk/savagebeauty