Alexander McQueen

When his career was cut short by his suicide, aged 40, Alexander McQueen was already a fashion giant. A new exhibition reveals the foundations of his ...

And it makes absolute sense that so many of his shows are so emotional — because of that." McQueen wasn't alone in the theatricality of his runway presentations — his British contemporary John Galliano was comparable in his showmanship, for example. And then you cut it out in a calico [fabric], create it, and then you draw on the calico — like, I want more volume here, or less," Tosh explains. For Matheson, The Widows of Culloden collection, from which 12 looks are showcased at NGV, is a perennial favourite: "It is peak McQueen … The clothes were beautiful, and technically phenomenal." 13, in which two industrial robots apply black and acid-yellow spray-paint to a dress worn by former ballerina Shalom Harlow as she rotates — apparently overwhelmed — on a turntable. It contains a 'toile' (work in progress) dress made by Tosh for the Widows of Culloden collection, using actual fabric rather than the usual calico. "Most designers, they perhaps have two, three, four, up to six points of reference that the collection would be based on … "So [we realised that] he's telling the story of migration and fashion drawing on textile history — and our minds were blown. And that textile motif moved to Japan with Buddhism," says the curator. "[But] we weren't really doing that with McQueen. "It could come from so many diverse sources …