I am not a fashion purist. I am also really fickle. This means that I don’t blindly rave about designers because I am infatuated with them (or because my favourite celebrity is infatuated with them) and if a designer of interest puts on a less than average show I politely ignore it and move on. It is on this note that Mister McQueen’s Spring Collection of 2008 has caught my flighty attention this week.
Usually when I am checking out the shows on Style.com I am playing George Michael’s ‘Too Funky’ in my head and thinking about the super cool motorbike corset in the video clip. McQueen’s collection not only stopped the gay karaoke festival but actually replaced it with the theme music from Beauty and the Beast. I adore the use of feathers in their natural state. With the beautiful colour, shape and placement it’s an ironic reminder of where feathers actually come from. With all the pink and artificial fluff we think of as feathers it’s so refreshing to see such beautiful structure and pattern in this new trend. The hats through out the show are a touching tribute to the late Isabella Blow who acted as a mentor for McQueen early in his career. She actually purchased his entire graduate collection straight from the runway and through her contacts (She worked as Anna Wintour’s assistant for a while) and support he became one of the most well-known designers in the world. I do apologise for that little rant, I get more distracted by the story of the object than the object itself. Back to the point… God bless McQueen for bringing back the butterfly! This poor little insect took a battering in the late nineties when every 12 year old girl had cheap purple and pink glittery butterfly’s hanging from every appendage of their body and hardly anyone has touched them since. Until McQueen. And how much do we all want to thread butterflies on our last season super strappy sandals? I am feeling a Christmas day outfit brewing…