Ensemble, The Girl Who Lived in the Tree
Dress of ivory silk tulle embroidered with red glass crystals; bolero of red silkPhotographed by Sølve Sundsbø for Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
“[In this collection] she was a feral creature living in the tree. When she decided to descend to earth, she was transformed into a princess.”
Shalom Harlow at Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 1999 - No. 13
This show was inspired by the Arts and Crafts Movement and it ended with the model Shalom Harlow rotating on a turntable wearing a white dress being spray painted by two industrial robots. Harlow trained as a ballerina; It’s often said that the inspiration behind the collction was the dying swan. In actual fact, the inspiration came from an installation of the artist Rebecca Horn, of two machine guns firing paint at each other.Watch the video here