Bleecker Street/YouTube

The latest trailer for McQueen focuses on Alexander McQueen’s tragic genius

‘No one discovered Alexander McQueen. Alexander McQueen discovered himself’

At one point in the latest trailer for McQueen, you can hear someone remark that “the darkness created genius,” in reference to the perceived darkness within Alexander McQueen and the way it shaped his sensibilities as a fashion designer. This comment also seems to set the tone for a new trailer, which arrives just one month after the debut of the full-length trailer, which was released back on May 2.

Set for release in the UK on June 8 (it arrives in the US on July 20), the newest trailer for McQueen uses home videos, archival footage and previously recorded interviews with the late McQueen to tease the journey viewers will be taken on, from his humble beginnings as an East London lad to one of the fashion industry’s brightest and most polarizing designers in the 1990s. It’s clear that directors and coproducers Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui are fascinated with Alexander, but this new trailer really makes clear that it’s the designer’s tragic genius that seems to define his legacy and which will be a focal point of the documentary as well. Using some of the same home movie footage seen in the first trailer, this newer, shorter trailer emphasises that darker, more tempestuous side, going on to tease the ways in which the documentary will explore how it influenced McQueen’s designs and how he, in turn, went on to shock the fashion industry in a way no designer had done previously. 

You can watch the latest trailer below: 

Read Next
Q+AHow Jane Birkin became fashion’s most complicated icon

We sit down with Marisa Meltzer – author of the new biography It Girl – to discuss the actor’s enduring image, styling Serge Gainsbourg, and what happens when ‘fashion icon’ status eclipses an artist’s work

Read Now

OpinionWill nostalgia be the defining aesthetic of the 2020s?

From Hedi Boys and King Kylie to Margiela Futures and #swag, fashion is stuck in an endless remix of bygone eras – but can we ever escape the loop?

Read Now

On the RiseThis New York designer wants you to rethink the value of hard work

Follow Suit, the new collection by Mortica Studios founder Liv Masterson, is a timely critique of American work culture

Read Now

What Went DownDemna says bye to Balenciaga with his final Haute Couture collection

Featuring cameos from Kim Kardashian and Isabelle Huppert – plus a rare runway sighting of the Georgian designer – this is everything that happened at Demna’s last show

Read Now