OMEN
03-03-2007, 01:28 PM
PARIS (Reuters) - Locusts crawled over a giant video screen and a skull went up in flames at Alexander McQueen's fashion show as the designer put on another of his trademark theatrical displays.
To the sound of women's screams, models in tight leather trousers and cocoon dresses with curved backs paraded out on a catwalk made up of black sand late on Friday, following the lines of a bright red pentagram in their leather boots.
McQueen, who worked for theatrical costumiers Angels and Bermans before studying fashion design in London, is known for his extravagant displays.
In past seasons, he has brought cobweb-covered chandeliers and string quartets to his catwalks or transformed his models into the figures of a human chess game. A year ago, the designer let the image of supermodel Kate Moss emerge in a holographic installation inside a giant glass pyramid.
McQueen is one of several designers showing in Paris who like to give their presentations an extravagant edge. Karl Lagerfeld let paper snow flakes fall on to models in his display for Chanel on Friday and Jean Paul Gaultier's show was accompanied by a leg-kicking Celtic dancer.
For McQueen, who does not like to give backstage interviews, the reasoning for the spectacular displays is clear.
"By creating moments of intense emotion, I have more media coverage than with a simple (advertising) campaign," the designer told French magazine Elle in a recent interview.
"They are a vehicle for my fantasies," he added.
Friday's show was inspired by a woman executed in the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, who was one of the designer's ancestors, McQueen explained in a family tree placed on fashion editors' seats.
Their hair teased-up, models walked out in high-collared A-line dresses and shimmering bustiers worn to floating floor-length skirts. One model sported a skin-tight golden catsuit with an armour-like gold plate covering her chest.
A video screen on an inverted pyramid installed over the models' heads displayed naked women with make-up smeared over their faces, followed by swarms of locusts.
Reuters
To the sound of women's screams, models in tight leather trousers and cocoon dresses with curved backs paraded out on a catwalk made up of black sand late on Friday, following the lines of a bright red pentagram in their leather boots.
McQueen, who worked for theatrical costumiers Angels and Bermans before studying fashion design in London, is known for his extravagant displays.
In past seasons, he has brought cobweb-covered chandeliers and string quartets to his catwalks or transformed his models into the figures of a human chess game. A year ago, the designer let the image of supermodel Kate Moss emerge in a holographic installation inside a giant glass pyramid.
McQueen is one of several designers showing in Paris who like to give their presentations an extravagant edge. Karl Lagerfeld let paper snow flakes fall on to models in his display for Chanel on Friday and Jean Paul Gaultier's show was accompanied by a leg-kicking Celtic dancer.
For McQueen, who does not like to give backstage interviews, the reasoning for the spectacular displays is clear.
"By creating moments of intense emotion, I have more media coverage than with a simple (advertising) campaign," the designer told French magazine Elle in a recent interview.
"They are a vehicle for my fantasies," he added.
Friday's show was inspired by a woman executed in the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, who was one of the designer's ancestors, McQueen explained in a family tree placed on fashion editors' seats.
Their hair teased-up, models walked out in high-collared A-line dresses and shimmering bustiers worn to floating floor-length skirts. One model sported a skin-tight golden catsuit with an armour-like gold plate covering her chest.
A video screen on an inverted pyramid installed over the models' heads displayed naked women with make-up smeared over their faces, followed by swarms of locusts.
Reuters