runway7 December 20246 min read

Alexander McQueen: Dante, Autumn-Winter 1996

“I oscillate between life and death, happiness and sadness, good and evil.”
— Alexander McQueen

A haunted, macabre, surreal fashion show

Before I show you this fashion show, which is perhaps the one that has left the deepest mark on me, I need to say a few words so you can truly grasp how extraordinary what you're about to witness is.

Before even watching this show, I read the book Inferno by Kent Baker, who first met Alexander McQueen in 1995. One of his friends was McQueen's neighbor and had become very close to the designer. So, whenever Kent visited his friend, he’d occasionally bump into McQueen.

One night, they all went out in West London for drinks, and instead of heading home like everyone else, Kent went back to McQueen's place.

The moment they walked in, McQueen immediately started cutting patterns. That's when he told Kent it was for his next "Dante" collection.

Kent was stunned by the speed and precision with which McQueen worked.

It was as if he'd been doing it his whole life, he could have done it with his eyes closed...

And in that moment, Kent thought to himself, I have to film the backstage of this show. It's going to be incredible.

Lee agreed without hesitation.

"Show will take place in a church built by a Satanist architect"

A little while later, it was decided, Alexander McQueen was going to hold his fashion show in a church. But not just any church.

Lee had caused quite a stir by telling everyone that the architect of Christ Church Spitalfields (the church where the show was set to take place), Nicholas Hawksmoor, was a Satanist who supposedly sacrificed a baby for every church he built. On top of that, he claimed that from an aerial view, the church formed a satanic pentagram. For Lee, there was no doubt: the architect was deeply involved in black magic.

Maybe it's a kind of psychosis related to the whole story, but everyone who worked on the show in that church talks about how powerful the energies were in that place.

Mira Chai Hyde (who was in charge of the hairstyle for the show) recalls that a crucifix suddenly fell to the floor, and everyone stopped talking. Others mention that, strangely, Minter, Lee’s usually calm dog, had to be taken home because he was growling at everything.

Whatever the cause of these events, Lee’s idea to hold the show in a dilapidated, eerie church, located in the oldest part of the East End, in the heart of Jack the Ripper's murder sites, had the desired effect. Many people were utterly terrified. Then, the skeleton lounging in the front row, legs crossed, only added to the macabre atmosphere that had already taken hold.

“Lee put a skeleton on a seat on the front row, which we all laughed at, it was so naughty. He was telling everyone the place was haunted.”

Origins behind the Dante show

The name of the show: "Dante" is a reference to the 14th century Italian poet Dante Aligheri’s masterwork The Divine Comedy and its protagonists, epic journey through Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise.

The poem discusses "the state of the soul after death and presents an image of divine justice meted out as due punishment or reward"

A bunch of kids who changed the fashion world forever

Many of these people who worked on that show were just kids in 1996, embarking on their careers much like the 26 years old Alexander McQueen.

Everyone on team McQueen was working for free, from his clubbing friend, the jeweller Shaun Leane, to the show’s lighting designer Simon Costin, John Gosling, a musician was drafted in to create music for the show, PR, stylist’s they were all there for him.

Andrew Groves (Fashion student at CSM and Lee’s boyfriend at the time):

"At that time there were people rioting to get in. It was mayhem. At the big doors of the church, I saw people trying to push their way in and others trying to shut them out due to over-capacity. We had never seen anything like that in London before. For someone using so many historical references, to make it look modern and street was a feat. And it still look modern today"

“It felt like a truly underground event. It was put together on a tiny budget, helped along with Lee’s friends out of sheer belief in what he was doing in fashion. Not for money, but out of shared excitement and for a chance to be involved in something that felt vital.”
— Kent Baker, friend of McQueen

OK, it's time for the show

After providing the context, I'll leave you with this incredible show!

I could watch this fashion show over and over again, I don't think I'd ever get tired of it.

It was a time when phones didn’t exist. If you were a fashion pro, you had your little notebook, or else you simply looked with your eyes, living the moment 200%, fully immersed in the experience.

Of course, this fashion show left a lasting impression on me because of the outfits, the embellishments worn by the models, the skeletons... But what really struck me the most was everything surrounding it.

The macabre atmosphere, the setting: an actual church, the attitude of the models, who seem almost possessed, the way the men and women exchange glances, laugh... it almost feels like we’re at a party. The accessories, the hair, the music... everything combined created an experience that was both unsettling and captivating.

We have to remember that this was the 90s.

There's no doubt about it, Alexander McQueen was a genius, a true visionary ahead of his time.

Dante was a living film, a spooky film

The lights suddenly went out in the middle of the show, and only the stained glass windows of the church were glowing. Then the lights flickered back on to a rock’n’roll atmosphere, with the sound of "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones, revealing a woman with a massive horn on her head. It was truly a spectacle, a living film, and that’s what made Lee's shows so unique.

The lights go out one last time, the applause begins, the lights come back on, and the models form a guard of honor, clapping. The people in that church have just experienced a moment that will forever be etched in the history of fashion. The applause grows louder... it feels like a stadium. Lee enters, beaming with a smile, it's pure euphoria. He was about to leave when his mother hands him a bouquet of flowers. He hugs her, takes the bouquet, and walks off.

“Everyone in that Spitalfields church that day knew they were part of a fashion moment.”

Adam Bryant (Hair stylist): "At the time we felt like the new London crew. We were young excited and creative. We felt like we were at the centre of everything. Looking back, that show was the moment Lee Alexander McQueen went from showing punky, rebellious clothes to punky, rebellious, elegant couture. Working with the feathers, antlers and animal horns on the hair was incredible, the proportions looked so new and beautiful. Dante felt a bit like how I imagine being at Woodstock might have felt"

Jade Parfitt (Model): "It was quite a drama being part of one of Lee’s shows, like being at a rave. The adrenalin was way up there, which is so rare. It was like going to a rock concert. Being booked for a McQueen show was a big deal, and I wanted it. He had a band of McQueen models who liked to perform. He gave minimal instruction, but he set the scene, and I think he chose models with attitude - you would want to do something to fill that moment. I loved acting out his fashion fantasies. It sounds cheesy to say it, but everyone in that Spitalfields church that day knew they were part of a fashion moment.