In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692 is the thirtieth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, released for the Autumn/Winter 2007 season of his eponymous fashion house. Elizabeth Howe was inspired by the Salem witch trials, and also incorporated elements from occult symbolism and the ancient Egyptian religion. McQueen was distantly related to Elizabeth Howe, one of the women hanged during the trials, and he travelled to Salem, Massachusetts, to do research for the collection. Compared to his previous two collections, which were melancholy and romantic, the narrative was noticeably more Gothic, with themes of persecution and desire. The palette was composed largely of dark shades, with jewel tones and gold for contrast.
The runway show was staged on 2 March 2007 at Le Zénith Arena in Paris during Paris Fashion Week. The collection was presented in a dimly-lit room. A screen in the shape of an inverted pyramid was suspended above the dark circular stage, where models walked along the lines of a red pentagram. A film directed by McQueen accompanied the show, depicting occult and macabre imagery. Forty-nine looks were presented. The most notable are a series of long dresses with beading which resembles hair, and a gold bodysuit evoking gilded Egyptian statues.
The collection received a mixed to negative reception. Reviewers complained about the staging, with a broad consensus that the dim lighting made it difficult to see the designs and the macabre theatrics had overshadowed the clothes. Some critics identified the evening gowns and moulded bodices as a highlight. It is not better remembered in retrospect. Academic analysis has focused on interpreting McQueen's narrative and references. Items from the collection have appeared in exhibitions like the retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.
Background British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs, and dramatic fashion shows. Over the course of his career, which lasted from 1992 until his death in 2010, he explored a broad range of ideas and themes, particularly sexuality, death, violence, romanticism, and historicism. He learned tailoring as an apprentice on Savile Row, and dressmaking as head designer at French fashion house Givenchy. Although he worked in ready-to-wear – clothing produced for retail sale – his showpiece designs featured a degree of craftsmanship that verged on haute couture.
McQueen's work was highly autobiographical: he incorporated elements of his memories, feelings, and personal fixations into his designs and runway shows. He had a difficult upbringing, which led him to identify with the persecuted and the vulnerable all his life. McQueen's mother Joyce was interested in genealogy, and she passed this interest to her son, who became fascinated by his heritage. Several of his collections, including Joan (Autumn/Winter 1998) and Eye (Spring/Summer 2000), examined the persecution and oppression of women. McQueen's earlier shows Highland Rape (Autumn/Winter 1995) and The Widows of Culloden (Autumn/Winter 2006) drew on his feelings about his Scottish ancestry and English violence toward Scotland.
Variations on a hard moulded bodice appeared in a number of McQueen's collections, beginning with Banshee (Autumn/Winter 1994). For No. 13 (Spring/Summer 1999), McQueen commissioned plaster of Paris life casts of model Laura Morgan, which were used to create leather bodices. The casts were re-used for future collections, including The Overlook (Autumn/Winter 1999) and It's Only a Game (Spring/Summer 2005).
Concept and collection
In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692 (Autumn/Winter 2007) is the thirtieth collection McQueen designed for his eponymous fashion house. His previous two collections, Widows and Sarabande (Spring/Summer 2007), had been melancholy but softly romantic. Elizabeth Howe took a noticeably darker, more Gothic tone, with themes of persecution, revenge, and desire. The collection's primary inspiration was the Salem witch trials, a series of religiously motivated prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and April 1693; nineteen of the accused were hanged. McQueen also drew on The Crucible, a 1953 play by Arthur Miller which dramatises the Salem events, as well as the 1996 film version. Commercial items such as sweaters and parkas accompanied showpiece items like long beaded gowns.
McQueen became interested in the trials toward the end of 2006. According to his mother's genealogy research, they were distant relatives of Elizabeth Howe, one of the women hanged. That December, he took a research trip to Salem, Massachusetts, an exception from his usual reluctance to travel for work. He was accompanied by his right-hand woman Sarah Burton, McQueen's friend Kerry Youmas, and fashion journalist Sarah Mower; Mower had been commissioned by Vogue to write a feature article about the research process for the collection. While in Salem, the group undertook research at local libraries and the Salem Witch Museum, and visited historical locations such as Howe's grave.
The overall palette was sombre, with mostly dark shades like black, brown, and maroon. For contrast, there were rich green, purple, and blue jewel tones, including in dip-dyed fox furs and iridescent greens said to resemble insect wings. Gold saw heavy use as a main colour and an accent. The collection's saturated colours would have violated the sumptuary laws in place in Salem during the time of the witch trials, because of the amount of dye required to achieve them.
Elizabeth Howe also incorporated elements from occult symbolism and the ancient Egyptian religion. Two long black dresses, Looks 43 and 44, were adorned with beading that appeared to resemble locks of hair, which can be associated with witchcraft and femininity. Jeweller Shaun Leane, a frequent McQueen collaborator, created a pair of headpieces that drew on moon goddess symbolism from neopaganism: a crescent moon and a large star, each covered with Swarovski crystals. Look 42, a sheer black dress paired with the moon headpiece, was covered in what author Karen Homer took as "pagan symbols". Critics have described a series of blue-and-gold and all-gold looks in the middle of the collection as evocative of gilded ancient Egyptian statues and sarcophagi. The patterns on some of these items resembled stylised ibis wings; the bird was sacred to the Egyptians.
Leather and other stiff materials appeared in several items. There were bustiers in brown leather and what curator Claire Wilcox described as "scarab-shaped leather carapaces", paired with thigh-high boots. Morgan's torso cast from No. 13 was used again to create moulded leather bodices, including one in chocolate-brown leather. The design extended downward past the hips and upward to cover the entire face, save the eyes. Look 45 juxtaposed hard and soft with a stiff exterior and a fuzzy inner layer.
The designs looked back to McQueen's previous collections in other ways. The hourglass silhouette found in Look 45 was a McQueen standard, heavily present in Sarabande; and wide necklines recalled similar designs from Pantheon ad Lucem (Autumn/Winter 2004). There were multiple apparent callbacks to Irere (Spring/Summer 2003). Author Katherine Gleason suggested that a gem-covered cross on Look 40 recalled that collection's religious elements, while McQueen's biographer Judith Watt identified the final four looks from Elizabeth Howe as drawing on a nude bodysuit with elaborate black patterning from Irere. McQueen had experimented with hair in Eshu (Fall/Winter 2000), which featured a coat made entirely from large loops of synthetic hair.
Other garments evoked the work of designers McQueen admired. The gown with hair-like beading reminded curator Kate Bethune of designs made by Jean Cocteau for Elsa Schiaparelli. Gleason thought that Look 17, a blue and gold cocktail dress with origami-like pointed folds, was evocative of a 1989 Issey Miyake design. Some concepts were more novel. Several items had rounded or bulging silhouettes which departed heavily from both McQueen's typical style and the fashionable norm. Some authors felt they resembled the ovum – the female egg cell.
Runway show
The runway show was staged on 2 March 2007 at Le Zénith Arena in Paris. The invitation featured a Joel-Peter Witkin photograph called "Woman Masturbating on the Moon". Guests were provided with a copy of a genealogy chart documenting McQueen's relation to Howe. The show opened with the song "Red Tape" (1995) by Agent Provocateur. Other tracks included a hard rock cover of the Screamin' Jay Hawkins song "I Put a Spell on You" (1956).
McQueen typically worked with a consistent creative team for his shows. His longtime collaborator Katy England was responsible for overall styling; it was her last show with McQueen. Gainsbury & Whiting oversaw production. Joseph Bennett took care of set design. Eugene Souleiman styled hair, while Charlotte Tilbury handled make-up.
Styling for the collection was dramatic. McQueen was heavily involved in determining the details of the final look. During the final development phase, days before the show, he told Elle magazine he felt there was no point doing shows without elaborate hair and make-up: "We already know what we really look like in clothes. We want the fantasy." Years later, Sarah Burton recalled how McQueen's philosophy on runway styling, which downplayed models' identities in favour of emphasising the designs, was expressed in extreme fashion in Elizabeth Howe. One model was sent down the runway in a leather bodice that extended upward to cover her entire face, save the eyes.
Hair was styled in buns that were elongated behind the head. Souleiman described the look as "Alien meets Predator, a really bizarre silhouette, with a kind of Cleopatra-slash-Joan of Arc-y front". Make-up for the collection was dramatic, evoking the colourful styles worn in the 1960s. Models wore heavy matte green and blue eye shadow with thick black winged eye liner, inspired by the looks worn by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film Cleopatra and the popular conception of Egyptian glamour. MAC Cosmetics later released a limited-edition "MAC for McQueen" collection featuring eye shadow inspired by the runway make-up.The collection was presented in a dimly lit room with a circular stage covered with dark gravel. A red pentagram, a symbol commonly associated with witchcraft and paganism, was laid into the rocks while a 45-foot screen in the shape of an inverted pyramid was suspended above. The show opened with the faces of three women projected on the screen, while a voice whispered "I open my heart to you, I open my spirit to you, I open my body to you." Throughout the show, a film played on the screen depicting macabre imagery of flames, blood, insects, owls, decaying human heads, and naked women. Models walked along the outline of the pentagram rather than in the traditional straight line. Author Andrew Wilson described the overall effect as reminiscent of a Satanic ritual.
Forty-nine looks were presented in total. The first series of ensembles focused on a soft look, with rounded silhouettes, padded hips, and quilted fabric. The show then moved to blue and gold Egyptian-inspired items, followed by a series of more commercial skirts, wrap jackets, and denim items, interspersed with leather bustiers. The final phase comprised mostly black or very dark dresses with various embellishments, including the long beaded gowns. The last four ensembles had elaborate patterns rendered in black beading; the closing look featured a model dusted with gold pigment.
Reception
Contemporary