Unseen McQueen with SHOWstudio

I thought I'd continue offering as much knowledge as I know regarding Alexander McQueen and the Savage Beauty Exhibition that is happening right now at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. SHOWstudio is currently featuring some archived McQueen videos on their website, including unseen photo-shoots and interviews by Nick Knight and his team. But before we indulge into all things McQueen, I thought I'd give you a little insight into what SHOWstudio actually is. SHOWstudio was founded by Nick Knight in November 2000 and has encouraged fashion film and media ever since, with it's ground-breaking approach to presenting fashion through the eyes of the internet. It is now recognised as the original and leading figure in engaging fashion with the digital age. SHOWstudio was the first to broadcast a live runway show, which was actually Alexander McQueen's last show "Plato's Atlantis" before his tragic death in 2010. However because Lady Gaga tweeted what was happening thirty minutes before schedule, which resulted in the site crashing. They also deliver some of the greatest ever photo-shoots using the latest, cutting-edge technologies. Present live panel discussions during fashion weeks with the industry's experts, usually presented by contributing writers Lou Stoppard and Daryoush Haj-Najafi. What I love about Nick Knight is the fact he records all of his photo-shoots so we all get a behind-the-scenes take on what goes on. They also have the greatest, most amazing interviews, with key figures in the fashion industry. SHOWstudio has and continues to work with some of the greatest designers, artists and models the world has ever seen ranging from; John Galliano, Kate Moss, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Rick Owens, Tracey Emin, Björk, Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga and of course the late Alexander McQueen. Perhaps best described in SHOWstudio's words "Constantly changing, consistently innovating".

Unseen McQueen
Unseen McQueen explores the relationships Lee McQueen had and the effects he had on the people he worked with during the creative process of his namesake brand Alexander McQueen. Unseen McQueen has been almost like an advent calendar for lovers of fashion, in that SHOWstudio has each day unveiled various projects and interviews the two collaborated on, during his lifetime. As expected we have behind the scenes footage from photo-shoots including Blade of Light, The Cell, The Face which was inspired by his "Joan of Arc" collection and his first collaboration with sportswear brand Puma and many many more. There are also recent footage of the people he was close to, being interviewed by Lou Stoppard including the likes of Katy England his stylist, Michael Clark who choreographed a number of his shows, the journalist from inside the mirrored cube in "VOSS2011" Michelle Olley, Aimee Mullins who wore a pair of hand-carved wooden prosthetic boots (legs) at McQueen's "No.13" and who remained one of his muses, and of course Nick Knight himself.  Of them all, I feel Nick Knight and Lee McQueen understood one another the most, not just on a creative, working level but an emotional, close friend relationship also. In the last interview with Nick Knight of the series (Interview 7) Nick finds it incredibly hard to express his feelings which he has kept bottled-up inside since we lost Lee. To a point in which he breaks down live on camera, which was just so emotional, yet powerful to see Nick Knight as sad as he was talk about his friend in honour of what he achieved. Anyway, this has been a great series of films to watch, seeing a whole lot of Alexander McQueen from different perspectives, from his professional designer side, to his fun laughter-filled times and also how bad he essentially dealt with harsh criticism. The series is just so true and real, and there's no middle man telling you otherwise and that's what I find so important when watching each unique video. I'd like to take this opportunity to personally thank SHOWstudio for what they've created for us all to watch and click the link here to watch all the footage from SHOWstudio's Unseen McQueen.

The Wolf of High Street
xxx


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