mirrors — alexander mcqueen.

We have the habit to wake up in the morning and look to the mirror for a brief moment. The mirror is used to look at us every single day and it never gets tired of it. It's a brand new day and we believe it will be a normal one.

Are we really used to look to the mirror for more than just a brief moment?

In 2001, McQueen deliberately started the runaway show 'Voss' one hour later so the audience would be forced to stare at their own reflections in the giant mirrored cube that was the show's focal point. The good habit I mentioned in the beggining was extrapoled and and was felt by all the audience for more than just a brief moment. It was a majestic act that forced the crowd to look at them for more time than usual.

Lee Alexander McQueen, born in 1969, is a british fashion designer. At the age of 16, Lee was already facing the fashion industry, dominating the fabrics and advanced textile tecniques. He worked for Koji Tatsuno, Romeo Gigliï, succeeded Galliano on Givenchy Haute Couture and created his own brand.

Alexander was a man of dreams. On his collections, the designer brought the drama, the reality of being exposed to bad habits, the creativity of showing them on an unforgettable way. From futuristic to teller of bad dreams, Alexander transformed them into pure walking art. His creations told stories of rape, assaults, nightmares, art, movies, life today and life in the next centuries. He turned the ugly, raw truth into unique and threatical pieces.

His runaways shows were not only provokative, but they introduced the novelty like creating machines who paint dresses (S/S 1999 – No. 13) and technologies that will replace the human kind (S/S 2010 – Plato Atlantis). He turned the horror in romance and the romance in horror. Alexander gave to his creations, a touch of his misty personal experiences that were way more complex than his life. From the beggining of the humankind, primitivism, to looking up to the future, the designer shocked the audience and brought to life new imponent and iconic concepts. The designer emerged himself on his pieces and tried to drown his own - on them.

Alexander didn't have the nerve to face his reflections in the morning, or for more than an hour.

9 years later he forced himself to look to the mirror, and look into himself. Like a brand new day, another one.

Alexander isn't with us right now.

Catarina João Vieira