Salò, taken from the September 2001 issue of Dazed – check out Norbert Schoerner discuss this image in our Dazed history of McQueenPhotography Norbert Schoerner, art direction Alexander McQueen, styling Katy England
What to do if you don't have Savage Beauty tickets
If, for whatever reason, you can't make it down to this week's opening of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beautyat the V&A, you've got plenty of other options to pay tribute to the late designer's legacy. Not only are there two other major photography shows of his work in London, including one from close collaborator Nick Knight, there's also a new book out and a digital issue of AnOther dedicated to the long shadow cast by his legacy. Read on to find out where to go and what to see.
British photographer Nick Waplington is better known for his unerring studies of the environment and marginal communities like Israeli settlers and Nottingham council estate residents, but he also documented Horn of Plenty, the AW09 show that would prove to be McQueen's second last. At Nick Waplington/Alexander McQueen: Working Process, expect a carefully constructed comment on destruction, with the Tate Britain mounting candid photos of McQueen at work next to images of recycling plants and landfills.
Nika wears Swarovski crystal catsuit Deliverance S/S04 courtesy of the Alexander McQueen Archive, Swarovski crystal shoes with wristwatch ankle strap Deliverance S/S04 courtesy of Trino Verkade, taken from AnOther Magazine SS15Photography Nick Knight, styling Katie England
McQueen had a hugely fertile creative partnership with Nick Knight: together, the pair forged enduring images such as Devon Aoki dressed as a sci-fi McQueen geisha for the cover of Visionaire 20 and collaborated on a groundbreaking editorial featuring disabled models for McQueen's Dazed guest edit. For this show in its Knightsbridge gallery, SHOWstudio is reproducing Nick Knight's run of digitally-created visual tapestries in "monumental scale". Go big or go home.
showstudio.com, 19 March – 5 June 2015, SHOWstudio Shop, 19 Motcomb Street, London, SW1X 8LB
THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES BOOK AND EXHIBITION
From Inferno: Alexander McQueen
In 1996, McQueen was a recent Central Saint Martins graduate drawing some promising buzz. Dante, his AW96 show, helped to catapult him to fame. Staged at Christchurch in Shoreditch, Nicolas Hawksmoor's architectural glory, the collection featured crucifix masks, bleach-drowned denim and opulently dramatic lace. Inferno: Alexander McQueen is a candid making-of book that delves into the history behind this groundbreaking show, featuring contributions from Suzy Menkes and Katy England and intimate photography from Kent Baker. Images from the book will go on display at Foyles' gallery space in Charing Cross, London.
Inferno comes out on 30 March 2015. The gallery show is from 20 March – 3 May 2015, Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DT
THE DIGITAL-ONLY LIMITED EDITION MAGAZINE
This one is strictly for McQueen diehards with deep wallets. AnOther has produced the world's first ever digital magazine with a high-definition moving image on the cover. Meaning: it's a print magazine, but you can watch Rihanna moving on its cover as well as plug in headphones and listen to a custom soundtrack by John Gosling. The whole issue celebrates the legacy of McQueen and comes in a limited run of 1000 numbered editions.
The September 2001 issue of Dazed, guest edited by Alexander McQueen
From publishing an interview in our sixth ever issue with a young McQueen in 1993 (“Browns said I might be 'too far ahead of my time' – I didn't understand what they meant”) to photographing the unfinished fragments of the collection he was working on at the time of his death, Dazed and the designer had parallel histories in British fashion. Today, we’re celebrating our fashion editor-at-large, and the incredible legacy he left behind – check out the links below for more on McQueen.
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, in partnership with Swarovski, supported by American Express, and made possible with the co-operation of Alexander McQueen, runs from 14 March – 19 July 2015. www.vam.ac.uk/savagebeauty