McQueen

Going back to college, I remember going around the room and being asked who our favourite designer was. So many said Alexander McQueen and the tutor said it was so cliché. I thought how odd it was that popularity and celebration of genius could be considered a bad thing. McQueen was a creative genius and could see beyond the fashion industry. It could spark up the debate of design for the sake of design but maybe not today. 

I would categorize McQueen in the same box as people like Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain. My personal take on these people is that they had such a creative mind it was almost hard to cope with it, I know the circumstances for all the people are extremely different and have many other contributing factors. There is a good article HERE about the link between Creativity and Metal Illness, examples date all the way back to Ancient Greece. The work that came from McQueen is something many of can only dream about creating. Many that knew him say he was very sensitive and this shows in the garments, emotions turned into clothing. My favourite collection is The Girl Who Lived in a Tree (see it here) and I think you can see a great sadness and romanticism in it. It is this emotion and the technical mastery that makes the collections so utterly beautiful, even if controversial. 

A big question that arose from watching the documentary McQueen and I is could a story like his happen today? I don't know whether it could. A young man going into Central Saint Martins looking for a job and coming out with an Honours Degree. The hard fact now is that 70% of students will come out of University with debt. Fashion Design is even more expensive than many courses since you have to make a collection. I have seen friends of mine ploughing thousands into their final collection so they can get the best grades. Lee McQueen was from a fairly "normal" family that didn't have heaps of money, yet without fees he was able to create that final collection that would start his career with the help of Isabella Blow. For me, I have an acceptance of this vast amount of money that it's going to take to get me a Degree and with all the best intentions, a job. It's the way the world works in this country.Rright or wrong, education is power out in the big bad world. McQueen shows this, he was a tailor on Saville Row before his Uni experience. However, the lack of money was not important in the first collections for McQueen because of his absolute raw talent. 

In this generation I am part of, money is just an inescapable factor and, in a way, you have to be willing to pay to get to the top. This is the difference between 1991 and 2015. But a changing world is not a bad thing.

What is your view on University fees and do you think a such a success story could happen today?

 Anna