MCQUEEN’S MARTYRS
How Alexander McQueen referenced the 1918 assassinations of the Russian Imperial Romanov princesses for his Fall 1998 ‘Joan’ Collection, named for the Catholic martyr Joan of Arc. The tragic murders of the Romanov family and Joan of Arc acted as a macabre motif symbolizing female martyrdom and persecution. A haunting photographic print of three of the innocent, unsmiling Romanov children was featured on tailored jackets, dresses and tops, and overlaid with clear sequins which made the images flicker and shimmer as if beneath a watery surface. The use of shimmering sequins offered a contrast between innocent childhood, privilege and their fatal destiny. Ultimately though, the designer vicariously reasserted his own power and strength, conceivably in retaliation for his private persecutions, through the reincarnation of these tormented spirits… By resurrecting these slayed women through design, perhaps McQueen was giving a vengeful voice to all those that have and continue to be silenced.
Following the February Revolution in 1917, the Romanov Imperial family and their servants had been imprisoned in a house in Yekaterinburg, near the Ural Mountains, The Romanov family including Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei, were shot and bayoneted to death by Bolshevik revolutionaries in July of 1918, allegedly at the express command of Lenin. As Trotsky later said, "The Tsar's family was a victim of the principle that forms the very axis of monarchy: dynastic inheritance", for which their deaths were a necessity.
”Themes of martyrdom and persecution prevailed in a collection saturated with blood and violence. Glossy red snake skins and leathers hinted at bloodshed; tartans referenced the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots; haunting prints of the murdered Romanov children flickered over sequins on coats and dresses… The collection was presented by models that appeared aggressive and untouchable in the dark... The presence of such strong, fearless, sexualized women served as a counterpoint to the murder of innocents.” • Courtesy of ‘Alexander McQueen’ by V&A Publishing • All Collages by Moi
