BONES BRIGADE
Monochrome mosaic panel of a skeleton holding two wine jugs • 1 – 50 A.D. • House of the Vestal, Pompeii • Image courtesy of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples
Underneath the ash from Mount Vesuvius that suspended Pompeii in time, a mosaic panel of a skeleton was unearthed... sharing a similar macabre aesthetic with the garments shown on Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2009 runway.
The similarities can be seen quite strikingly in look number 32 from the Spring 2009 Ready-to-Wear collection. Also known as the Natural Dis-tinction, Un-natural Selection Collection, this silk mini dress features cap sleeves, a mock turtleneck and an all over crystal skeleton kaleidoscope print. The print consists of fractured images of the Eiffel Tower which give the impression of curving vertebrae.
The monochrome mosaic panel of a skeleton holding two wine jugs dates between 1–50 AD and currently resides at the Museo Archaeologico Nazionale di Napoli. Originally the centerpiece of the floor in a formal dining room in Pompeii’s House of the Vestals, this mosaic of a skeleton serves as a strange, yet possibly humorous, memento mori. Referred to as carpe diem, the ancient Romans often used death as a symbolic reminder to enjoy the moment and it’s earthly pleasures…
Alexander McQueen with Skull and Cigarettes, Clerkenwell, London • 2009 • Tim Walker • Image courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery
Models backstage at the Spring / Summer 2009 Natural Dis-tinction, Un-natural Selection show • October 3, 2008 • Le Centquatre, Paris • Robert Fairer • Image courtesy of Alexander McQueen : Unseen by Robert Fairer
