Alexander McQueen's Final Bow

Alexander McQueen's final collection was shown today to a small groups of editors in Paris at PPR headquarters in what was the most anticipated collection of the fall 2010 season. Possibly one of the most anticipated collections ever, at least in recent memory.

Last year's Atlantis-inspired show was staged by McQueen with extreme flamboyance, and the same was planned for this collection, but the company felt that it wouldn't be the same to put on the show without him and instead decided to present the collection in a small and intimate manner:

"He very much had a vision for his show concept, but it didn't feel right to do that without him," said Chief Executive Jonathan Akeroyd. "We decided this was the best way to do it in a very low profile environment—the most appropriate way in light of what has happened."

McQueen had completed just 16 looks—less than half of what would have been his complete collection—when he took his own life a month ago.

His final fall collection was inspired by old masters' paintings and filled with rich colors, deep red and gold hues were seen throughout the entire collection. Dramatic capes, ornate embroidery, and stunning draping took my breath away. Here are his final 16 looks:

Are you still breathing?? I hope so. I'll admit, I felt shortness of breath as I was looking through the slideshow at Style.com. With the click of a button, each piece shortened each breath I took, and that last piece almost sent me packing. And those above-the-knee-boots. Wow. Say no more.

McQueen once said that his shows overpowered the clothes. Not this time. This collection is breath-taking and beyond exquisite. Everything from beginning to end, top to bottom, back to front, was so unbelievably beautiful and quite possibly one of my favorite McQueen collections of all time. Alexander McQueen truly attained a level of artistry that few will ever reach. This is his legacy.

While the brand will continue with more commercial collections, the clothes shown in his final collection are not expected to be widely sold *I hope those boots are*. Instead they will be loaned out on a limited basis to a few fashion magazines, a spokeswoman said. Today we also learned that there was no talk of a successor, and all the rumors of Gareth Pugh succeeding McQueen were shot down earlier by Pugh's rep:

"We've been really focusing on this, on finishing the collection, we haven't been thinking beyond that," said Akeroyd. "In the next few weeks, we are going to be working on the way ahead, but we've just really been concentrating on this presentation."

There was an unmistakable impression that McQueen was immersed in thoughts of life after death with this particular collection. "Solemn, funereal and even a little spooky." That's how Women's Wear Daily described Alexander McQueen's final show. The Wall Street Journal reported that the "eeriest insight" into McQueen's final weeks was a dress imprinted with a scene from Bosch's triptych "The Garden of Earthly Delights," which showed the artist's hellish conception of the afterlife. There were otherworldly motifs such as doves woven throughout the collection. Patterns on a gold brocade pant suit, on closer inspection, turned out to be angels, their wings spanning the torso. There is no question that McQueen romanticized with life and death, but he never did it like this before. It makes you wonder where his mind was...

Even in death he is able to share a piece of heaven with us. Gone too soon. I will miss his work.

May he rest in peace...

xoxo,
Mercedes

*Source-Style.com