Media Diving

Lee once said 'This world I live in, this fashion world I live in, is so unrelated to the world outside, so I take parts of the world that people don't see and bring it to them.' His final show in Paris 2009 was a beautiful metamorphosis. McQueen was an avid bird watcher as a child and an accomplished scuba diver in his adulthood and it feels like nature's wing has been intrinsically stitched into each design. Pieces that are so exquisite , yet ultimately very appealing as ready-to-wear. ( Well maybe not the armadillos) Particular pieces make you want to ca coon yourself within them, snuggle almost. Teamed with extreme heels and torpedo-like hair structure (along with prosthetic face-pieces) finish the look.

Silk Screen Print

The rotating doll-like figure who seems like she has been plucked straight from a childhood girl's vanity case. The Ballerina style choreography reveals the composition of both (wo)man and machine. In '99 when others were fretting over Nostradamus, the millennium bug and a silver fitted one-piece for NYE, MQ was drenching his audience with a vision of the post-modern future.

We love you Kate

McQueen. The pioneer.The Innovator. One whom was always one step ahead. The state of the art hologram by Baillie Walsh astounded the audience at the 2006 A/W collection. A true statement of why he shall be so dearly missed.

Frankie says Relax

It is said that aspects of Art are found in the chess composition. McQueen's S/S '05 show is mesmerizing. You are entranced as the formation takes place and witness a plethora of fabric, construction, detail and nationality. McQueen says such a collection and show enabled him to explore different types of women; chess is often divided into black and white, yet the designer explores the aesthetics of all nationalities in his eclectic board game of fun. Quintessential English roses are first onto the platform with sharp tailoring and beautiful attention to detail. Prim and proper with a highland twist to the heels. Next nude shades, delicacy and ditsy amounts of floral. Later pastel yellows are added to the palette, alongside strong mould ensembles which cocoon the feminine silhouette. McQueen was heavily influenced by pictorial photojournalism, and I feel that in this playground, each female is as pretty as a picture.

Watch the man at work.
xx

Remembering McQueen

Lee Alexander McQueen died in February this year, just as we were starting work on this issue of Hautefly. Here we pay tribute to the inspirational character without whom British fashion will never be the same.

' It is a terrible loss to the fashion community worldwide... which is a fraternity at the end of the day. Everybody feels that loss and some connection to McQueen, personally and professionally.' - Fern Mallis, President of IMG fashion, organiser of New York Fashion Week

' Absolute shock, absolute shock. What an amazing man. One of the most talented designers in the fashion world absolutely.' - Heidi Klum


'Well it is quite rare to get raw original talent. McQueen probably was one of those talents that comes across every 20 to 30 years. He was an intellectual designer, very theatrical, very anti-discipline.' - Alexander Shulman, Editor of British Vogue


' A great tragedy, a great loss, a big disappointment for our industry. What are we doing wrong? We do some great things, but are we nourishing our talent, looking after our talent?... He was a great cutter, a great tailor, he was one of the few designers who could design, cut and make.' - Paul Costelloe, Fashion Designer


'Being a true artist, being somebody who is constantly being inspired, constantly re-defining his art, not being in the box... when everyone was designing grey because of the economy, out comes Alexander with beautiful colours and prints. True to his own spirit, always one step ahead of the game.' - Hofit Golan

' I always looked up to him, as this incredible talent, its a huge loss.... He was one of the few designers that I looked to with real interest with what he did. I could learn and be inspired.' - Steve Cox and Daniel Silver, Co-founders, Duckie Brown

' A unique originator, who derived everything from his own thoughts. He really wasn't a commercial animal. He lived for his fashion shows, not only were they spectacular and cost an absolute fortune buts that's what he lived for. He wanted to use fashion as a medium to make bold statements.' - Jeff Banks

Fashion's like a bubble... Sometimes I feel like popping it

By nature, I am a melancholic person. So I Like to see good and bad in everything, I don't want to put a smoke screen over everything to make it a prettier place, because it's not. Purely for the drama, because life's a drama.
Lee Mcqueen spoke this statement in brutal honesty in his south London lilt. The angry young man who many thought was determined to be both seen and heard in an act of rebellion when he was thrust onto the 90s fashionista scene, was in reality a 26 year old Central St. Martins graduate whom two years after graduation was working for the house of Givenchy.An amazing feat yet one which did not come without high expectations.
A designer who embroidered a tres taboo four letter expletive into the future monarch's sleeve and who's early collection was entitled Highland Rape, self professed, " I don't beat around the bush, I go straight for the jocular". This piece is a celebration of a talented Englishman who stuck two hard fingers up to the sometimes shallow world of fashionistas and then mellowed before our eyes, entwining his poetic vision into both his collections and outstanding,breathtaking and ground-breaking shows. As the shock still resonates from the terrible news of Lee's untimely departure, Hautefly reflects on an original creative mastermind who stitched an explitive finger from Saville Row to Saint- Amroise, who understood construction before he unpicked, re-stiched and then deconstructed the entire fashion envelope. RIP A.L.M x

Blowing hot and Cole [d]

This uber, uber sweet trench modelled by Ms. Cole is the CHRISTIAN LACROIX 'Falbala' trench coat. The attention to detail is delightful and the splash of colour will be great to wear in the transition between winter and summer, with the red dose giving a liccle spring in your step.

Exposure

Trench coats have always seemed to get us through the tough times and just like 80s power dressing, perhaps Ms.Tweedy selected this Burberry piece to prevent, ahem, over exposure. Worn with MJ sunnies ans shoe boots, you can alternatively slip on some red lippy and Christian Louboutins to create an allure of french glamour.

Trench Warfare

With winter seeming to never end and the nation anticipating another patter of snow feet during LFW, heres looking to spring (longingly) and the return of the classique trench.

With military being a key trend for S/S '10 Hautefly provides a little selection from heavy duty and well insulated to a very british prim and proper knee length mac coat. Attention! please...