The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alexander McQueen collection)
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2005 collection by Alexander McQueen
Look 3 from the runway show, presented at Lee Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous (2024)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Autumn/Winter 2005) is the twenty-sixth collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It took inspiration from the fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the films of Alfred Hitchcock; its namesake is Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). The runway show was staged during Paris Fashion Week on 4 March 2005 at the Lycée Carnot, a secondary school in Paris. Forty-eight looks were presented; the first thirty-six were daywear, while the final twelve were eveningwear. The collection's clothing and runway show both lacked McQueen's signature theatricality, and critical reception at launch and in retrospect was negative. It was the debut of the Novak handbag, which became a best-seller for the brand. Critical analysis has examined why McQueen pivoted to a more commercial approach, as well as the influence of film on the collection.
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs.[1][2][3] During his nearly twenty-year career, he explored a broad range of ideas and themes, including historicism, romanticism, femininity, sexuality, and death.[1][2][3] McQueen began his career in fashion as an apprentice on Savile Row, which earned him a reputation as an expert tailor.[4][5][6] His fashion shows were known for being theatrical to the point of verging on performance art.[7][8]Sarah Burton, his assistant during much of his career, later said that he "just didn't like doing normal catwalk shows".[9]
McQueen's personal fixations and interests were a throughline in his career, and he returned to certain ideas and visual motifs repeatedly.[10][11] His collections were historicist, in that he adapted historical designs and narratives, and self-referential, in that he revisited and reworked ideas between collections.[12] As a cinemaphile, he drew on his favorite films to inspire his collections.[13] He was fond of Alfred Hitchcock, whose film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) was one of McQueen's childhood favorites.[14] One of McQueen's earliest collections, The Birds (Spring/Summer 1995), was named for Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds.[15] Although that collection's tight pencil skirts and wasp-waisted jackets were a reference to the tightly tailored outfits worn by the film's star, Tippi Hedren, McQueen avoided directly copying her wardrobe.[15][16][17]
Unusually for McQueen, the collection was straightforward and conventional.[23][14] The palette was muted, with a focus on taupe, grey, and black, with pops of colour.[24] The designs emphasised the female form in an old-fashioned way, with tailoring and knitwear that hugged the body, rather than relying on cuts which exposed the breasts and buttocks the way his earliest designs had.[19][25] The restrained aesthetic referenced the image of the "Hitchcock blonde", a stereotype of the attractive but sexually reserved women who led Hitchcock's films.[26][17]
The eveningwear portion comprised 1950s-inspired ball gowns, including a red one with a voluminous mermaid skirt that evoked the designs of Charles James.[14][23][21] The dress which closed the collection was a take on the bejewelled, flesh-toned, and skintight dress worn by actress Marilyn Monroe when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1963.[21]
Ensembles were rendered with feminine 1950s details and accessories like sunglasses, pearl jewellery, leather gloves, handbags, seamed stockings, and matching shoes.[14][23][24] The collection featured the first Alexander McQueen handbag, called the "Novak". It was named for actress Kim Novak, who frequently appeared in Hitchcock films.[14]
Runway show
The central hall of the Lycée Carnot secondary school, where the show was held. The runway ran straight down the centre, with the audience seated around it. Some models walked around the upper-level balcony before descending the stairs to the runway.
The show was produced by Gainsbury & Whiting.[29] Joseph Bennett, who had designed all of McQueen's runways since No. 13 (Spring/Summer 1999), returned for set design.[30] Katy England took care of overall styling, Guido Palau was responsible for hair, and Peter Philips handled makeup.[29]
McQueen's usual theatrical flair was absent from the runway show; his right-hand woman, Sarah Burton, recalled it as "the nearest he came to a standard runway presentation".[9] The unadorned catwalk ran straight down the centre of the school's central hall, with the audience seated around it.[31] The show opened with orange-red overhead lights illuminating the runway. White spotlights flashed one by one on the upper balcony, finally illuminating a pair of doors through which the models entered. They circled the balcony, eventually descending stairs at the other end to reach the runway.[27] The windows at the rear of the room were backlit in purple.[14] Curator Kate Bethune felt this backdrop was influenced by Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), in which a man watches his neighbours through their windows.[14]
Forty-eight looks were presented; the first thirty-six were daywear, while the final twelve were eveningwear.[19][23] Models were styled with bouffant hair in the mode of the 1950s and 60s.[14][23] Makeup was restrained, mainly consisting of matte lips and black flicked eyeliner.[23][19] Model Hannelore Knuts walked with backcombed bleach-blonde hair, red lipstick, and a false beauty mark, recalling the iconic style of Marilyn Monroe.[24]Julia Stegner wore tousled hair that evoked a look actress Brigitte Bardot was known for.[14]
After the final look, the lights went down briefly, before coming back up to show the models taking their final turn, with two in evening gowns posing on the stairs to the back of the runway. McQueen did not come out on the runway for a bow, and left the show without greeting the attendees.[32][33]
Reception
Critics complained that McQueen had become "safe and commercial".[32] Despite the negative reviews, The Guardian reported that the designs "had buyers and [magazine] editors alike salivating".[34] Despite the negative critical reaction, the collection was reportedly a sales success for McQueen.[34][14] McQueen defended his more commercial approach as the result of greater confidence in his designs: "You can hide so much more behind theatrics, and I don’t need to do that anymore."[34]
Writing for Vogue, Sarah Mower was disappointed that the collection mainly showcased safe ideas McQueen had explored before, although she felt the results were solid. She thought the runway show was repetitive and cynical, calling it "a merchandise run-through of dubious taste".[19]
The collection is viewed with little enthusiasm in retrospect. In her 2012 biography of McQueen, Judith Watt wrote that Look 39, a red ball gown, was "like a Charles James [design] but not as good".[21] She felt that McQueen's immediate departure after the show was an indication that he was under great stress at the time.[21] In her 2015 book Gods and Kings, Dana Thomas called it a "soulless exercise" indicative of McQueen's late-career malaise, and mentioned it only to opine that it was a "far more literal" interpretation of Hitchcock than The Birds had been.[35]Andrew Wilson, in his 2015 biography of McQueen Blood Beneath the Skin, called it "elegant", but otherwise spent little time on it.[18] No items from the collection appeared in Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective exhibition that covered McQueen's entire career.[36]
Some authors have been more positive about the collection in hindsight. Author Katherine Gleason described it as "contemporary vision of wearable glamour".[27] Curator Claire Wilcox found the collection "upbeat and commercial", and felt that it showcased McQueen's versatility in genre.[23] Judith Watt and Kate Bethune both noted the irony that a designer who had taken years of criticism for relying too heavily on theatrics at the expense of the clothing had been criticised for producing a low-key collection focused solely on the designs.[14][21]
Analysis
Theatrical poster for Vertigo (1958), upon which the show's invitation was based
Authors have offered a number of rationales for the collection's lack of theatrics. Watt suggested that McQueen may have felt pressured to rely on safe, saleable designs in order to satisfy the management at Gucci, which owned 51 per cent of the McQueen label.[21][37] Gleason suggested the rising economic influence of teens may have prompted McQueen to include youth-friendly garments like patterned sweaters and cropped jeans.[24] Watt speculated that the straightforward design of the Fair Isle sweaters may have been intended as a lead-in for McQ, the brand's upcoming diffusion line.[21]
Film theorist Alistair O'Neill focused on the collection as it related to Hitchcock. McQueen referenced several of the director's films throughout his career, exploring what O'Neill called "representations of femininity and how they are challenged through transformation scenes".[38] O'Neill thought the collection "distilled the Hitchcock blonde" across many looks, rewarding repeat viewing in a manner akin to film.[17] He considered McQueen's interpretation of Hedren's ensemble to be "more faithful" to the costume designer's original sketch than what appeared in the film, labelling it "a doppelgänger".[17]
Legacy
Several looks from The Man Who Knew Too Much have been photographed for editorials in Vogue. Paolo Roversi photographed Look 8, a black minidress with lace back, and Look 48, the beaded finale dress, for the December 2005 issue, in a shoot McQueen styled himself.[39]Regan Cameron photographed Cate Blanchett in the red ball gown from Look 39.[40]Patrick Demarchelier photographed Look 38, a black floor-length dress with white tulle underskirt.[41]Carter Smith also photographed Look 48 for a different shoot, accessorizing it with a cropped tweed jacket.[39]
The Novak bag became a trendy accessory for celebrities. As the brand's primary handbag, it was reissued in several sizes, colours, and fabrics over several years.[42][24]
McQueen's friend Alice Smith auctioned a collection of McQueen memorabilia in 2020; an invitation from The Man Who Knew Too Much sold for $2,440.[43] Trino Verkade, McQueen's first employee, auctioned her archive in 2014, including four items from The Man Who Knew Too Much.[44][45] One silver cocktail dress, Look 43 on the runway, that went for £2,200.[46]
The Widows of Culloden is the twenty-eighth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2006 season of his eponymous fashion house. It was inspired by his Scottish ancestry and is regarded as one of his most autobiographical collections. It is named for the women widowed by the Battle of Culloden (1746), often seen as a major conflict between Scotland and England. Widows makes extensive use of the McQueen family tartan and traditional gamekeeper's tweeds, as well as other elements taken from Highland dress. Historical elements reflected the fashion of the late Victorian era and the 1950s.
The illusion of Kate Moss is an art piece first shown at the conclusion of the Alexander McQueen runway show The Widows of Culloden. It consists of a short film of English model Kate Moss dancing slowly while wearing a long, billowing gown of white chiffon, projected life-size within a glass pyramid in the centre of the show's catwalk. Although sometimes referred to as a hologram, the illusion was made using a 19th-century theatre technique called Pepper's ghost.
The Dance of the Twisted Bull is the nineteenth collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. Twisted Bull was inspired by Spanish culture and art, especially the traditional clothing worn for flamenco dancing and bullfighting. In McQueen's typical fashion, the collection included sharp tailoring and historicist elements and emphasised femininity and sexuality.
The Birds is the fifth collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. The Birds was inspired by ornithology, the study of birds, and the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds, after which it was named. Typically for McQueen in the early stages of his career, the collection centred on sharply tailored garments and emphasised female sexuality. McQueen had no financial backing, so the collection was created on a minimal budget.
Neptune is the twenty-seventh collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It took inspiration from classical Greek clothing, 1980s fashion, and the work of artists influential in that decade. The runway show was staged during Paris Fashion Week on 7 October 2005 at the industrial warehouse of the Imprimerie Nationale. Two main phases were presented, with 56 looks total: the first phase comprised monochrome black clothing, while the second featured a white, green, and gold palette. The collection's clothing and runway show both lacked McQueen's signature theatricality, and critical reception at launch and in retrospect was negative. Items from Neptune appeared in the 2022 exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse.
Taxi Driver is the second collection by the British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It was named after the 1976 film Taxi Driver, and his father, a London taxicab driver. McQueen developed the collection following his 1992 graduation from Central Saint Martins art school. At the time he was unemployed and seeking a job in the fashion industry; although he was reluctant to launch his own company, he worked on designs to pass the time. The collection included experimental techniques and silhouettes, most notably the bumster trouser, whose extremely low waist exposed the top of the intergluteal cleft.
Irere was the twenty-first collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. Irere was inspired by imagery from the Age of Discovery and from the people and animals of the Amazon rainforest. Its title is claimed to mean 'transformation' in an unspecified Indigenous Amazonian language. The collection comprised three distinct concepts presented as a narrative sequence: shipwrecked pirates, menacing conquistadors, and tropical birds. McQueen described the collection as an effort to present a more mature point of view and surprise viewers with bold colours.
The oyster dress is a high fashion gown created by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his Spring/Summer 2003 collection Irere. McQueen's design is a one-shouldered dress in bias-cut beige silk chiffon with a boned upper body and a full-length skirt consisting of hundreds of individual circles of organza sewn in dense layers to the base fabric, resembling the outside of an oyster shell. According to McQueen, the gown took a month's work for three people, who cut and assembled all the pieces individually. In addition to the original beige dress, a version with a red bodice and the ruffled skirt in rainbow colours was also created. The beige and red versions appeared in the Irere runway show, and were photographed for magazines to promote the collection.
Eye was the fifteenth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It was inspired by the culture of the Middle East, particularly Islamic clothing, as well as the oppression of women in Islamic culture and their resistance to it. The collection crossed traditional Middle Eastern garments with elements drawn from Western fashion such as sportswear and fetishwear. Jeweller and frequent McQueen collaborator Shaun Leane provided the collection's best-known design: a yashmak made from chainmail.
Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims is the first collection by British designer Alexander McQueen, produced as the thesis collection for his master's degree in fashion at Central Saint Martins (CSM) art school. The collection's narrative was inspired by the victims of 19th-century London serial killer Jack the Ripper, with aesthetic inspiration from the fashion, erotica, and prostitution practices of the Victorian era. The collection was presented on the runway at London Fashion Week on 16 March 1992, as the second-to-last of the CSM graduate collections. Editor Isabella Blow was fascinated by the runway show and insisted on purchasing the entire collection, later becoming McQueen's friend and muse.
The Hunger is the seventh collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. The collection was primarily inspired by The Hunger, a 1983 erotic horror film about vampires. McQueen had limited financial backing, so the collection was created on a minimal budget. Typically for McQueen in the early stages of his career, the collection centred around sharply tailored garments and emphasised female sexuality. It was his first collection to include menswear.
The Overlook was the fourteenth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It was inspired by the Stanley Kubrick horror film The Shining (1980) and named for the fictional Overlook Hotel where much of the film takes place. The collection focused on winter clothing in light and neutral colours, including chunky knitwear, fur and shearling coats, and parkas inspired by Inuit clothing. Showpiece items included a bustier made from rock crystal and a corset made from coils of aluminium, the latter provided by jeweller and frequent McQueen collaborator Shaun Leane.
Pantheon ad Lucem is the twenty-fourth collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. Inspired by ideas of rebirth, ancient Greek garments and science fiction films including 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Star Wars (1977), the collection focused on sleek draped, wrapped, or tied jersey designs in light and neutral colours, with some evening wear in darker colours. Contrasting the slimline items were heavier garments including tweed suits and fur coats. McQueen expressed his fascination with altering the silhouette, emphasising the hips to a degree that was uncommon for him.
The Girl Who Lived in the Tree is the thirty-second collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2008 season of his eponymous fashion house. The primary inspirations were British culture and national symbols, particularly the British monarchy, as well as the clothing of India during the British Raj. The collection was presented through the narrative of a fairy tale about a feral girl who lived in a tree before falling in love with a prince and descending to become a princess.
Joan was the twelfth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. Continuing McQueen's dual fascination with religion and violence, it was inspired by imagery of persecution, most significantly the 1431 martyrdom of French Catholic saint Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake. The collection's palette was mainly red, black, and silver; colours which evoked notions of warfare, death, blood, and flames. Many looks referenced ecclesiastical garments and medieval armour, including several items that mimicked chainmail and one ensemble that had actual silver-plated armour pieces.
Nihilism is the third collection by the British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. McQueen developed the collection following the launch of his own label with Taxi Driver, which was exhibited in March 1993 at the Ritz Hotel in London in lieu of a fashion show. An eclectic collection with no straightforward theme, Nihilism pushed back against dominant womenswear trends with its hard tailoring, and aggressive, sexualised styling. It was created in collaboration with McQueen's associates Simon Ungless and Fleet Bigwood. Like Taxi Driver, Nihilism included experimental techniques, silhouettes, and materials, such as dresses made from cellophane, stained with clay, or adorned with dead locusts.
Voss is the seventeenth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Spring/Summer 2001 season of his eponymous fashion house. The collection drew on imagery of madness and the natural world to explore ideas of bodily perfection, interrogating who and what was beautiful. Like many of McQueen's collections, Voss also served as a critique of the fashion industry, which McQueen was often ambivalent about. Voss featured a large number of showpiece designs, including dresses made with razor clam shells, an antique Japanese screen, taxidermy hawks, and microscope slides. The collection's palette mainly comprised muted tones; common design flourishes included Orientalist and surrealist elements.
The Horn of Plenty: Everything But the Kitchen Sink is the thirty-fourth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2009 season of his eponymous fashion house. The collection drew on household trash and the aesthetics of classic haute couture fashion to satirise the fashion industry for its wastefulness and lack of originality. The Horn of Plenty also featured reimagined designs and reworked items from previous collections, serving as a retrospective of McQueen's own design history. Common design flourishes included houndstooth patterns, design elements overdone to ironic proportions, and prints based on the natural world. Production was shadowed by photographer Nick Waplington, who published a photo book documenting the collection's creation in 2013.
What a Merry-Go-Round is the eighteenth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2001 season of his eponymous fashion house. The collection drew on imagery of clowns and carnivals, inspired by McQueen's feelings about childhood and his experiences in the fashion industry. The designs were influenced by military chic, cinema such as Nosferatu (1922) and Cabaret (1972), 1920s flapper fashion, and the French Revolution, with a palette of dark colours complemented with neutrals and muted greens. The show marked the first appearance of the skull motif that is now a signature of the brand.
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