Take Marilyn Monroe, add a little Elvis and
finish with a liberal sprinkling of Bardot and you have, essentially, McQueen’s
A/W 2005 collection ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ (which can be seen in full
here). Named after the Hitchcock film, the collection drew upon every ’60s cliché
(think glamour girls, the rockers, rockabillies) and teamed it with an equally
cliché soundtrack (lots of Elvis.) McQueen is said to have left the show
without offering any comment on the collection, which further solidifies the
fact that this collection left many with nothing in particular to say.
For his S/S 2005 collection ‘It’s Only A Game’
(which can be seen in full here), McQueen offered up a collection which is
better described as a personal greatest hits than as a stand-alone collection. Although
he had always been self-referential (it is always said that the only way to
truly become iconic is to repeat imagery), this collection saw him re-interpret
a series of his staples by adding a new, feminine touch. It is an example of
McQueen’s new, lighter aesthetic which appeared to come after the business was
acquired by the Gucci group and, tellingly, after his time working at Givenchy.
