As many of you may know, last week, designer Alexander McQueen passed away. I didn't know how to react other than repeating, "oh my god" every other minute. My roommate is a fashion guru and McQueen happened to be her favorite designer. She wore black and mourned for the rest of the day. Of course other things ran through my mind such as, "who is going to take over his company," "how much will his clothes cost now," and, "will his last collection in Paris be displayed to the public?" I think what concerned me the most was that, McQueen's avant-garde designs that were already changing the world will soon come to an end and perish.
Yesterday, I talked to one of my close friends back at home (we'll call her Chloe), who also happens to be a fashion fanatic, and asked her how she felt about the death of this international prodigy. What she said changed my whole view on this artist's death.
Surprisingly, Chloe wasn't upset at all. She claimed that she was, "just okay." Then she explained that McQueen had a lot of "shadowers" that worked diligently next to him and learned a lot about his techniques, craftsmanship, and flamboyant designs. I was comforting for me to hear because it assured me that McQueen's designs and creativity will not go to waste but be farther expanded in the future.
How does this effect me as an artist and illustrator? When my roommate first told me that she was bawling in her room, I initially thought it was a little extraneous. The only way I could relate to her was to think about my favorite artist or illustrator dying. The death of McQueen made me realize the beauty of artists passing along their creativity and influencing the future creators. Not that we should all mimic or imitate current artists just in case they die but it really is important to make sure that "good art" spreads like wildfire.
I've become really appreciative of internships and jobs that work under different artists. I know a lot of my friends and I complain about internships and jobs because many of them are non-paid and they end up becoming an humbling task. Now that I think about it, it's really a blessing in disguise. Especially when you are working for or under an artist, you could only learn and stimulate your creative mind.
I'm looking forward to see fashion going to the next level. Not that clothes should necessarily look like McQueen's but like McQueen's, they should change, shock and disturb. He definitely brought wearable art into the fashion industry.
R.I.P Lee Alexander McQueen.
-g
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