Author(s): Susannah Frankel

THE ARTS

Alexander McQueen commissioned photographer Nick Waplington in 2008 to document the creation of his Fall 2009 collection from inception to its runway showing. This collection was the last one McQueen would ever show himself. The collection, which he entitled The Horn of Plenty, found McQueen revisiting his 15-year archive of work and recycling it into a new collection. It was in effect his personal survey. The set was composed of broken mirrors and a giant trash heap made up of all the sets from his previous shows. Critics have commented on this as a reflection of how McQueen was feeling towards the fashion system and how it forces designers to be creative geniuses while at the same time relegating each collection to a garbage bin of history as soon as its sold. Waplington was given unprecedented access to McQueen and his staff, which included the current Creative Director of the brand, Sarah Burton. Every step of the creative process is documented but most interestingly is that McQueen himself laid out the book on boards picture by picture. The book was ready for publication when McQueen died consequently putting the book on hold - until now. The book is published just as McQueen laid it out in a tribute to this most personal of collections. Nick Waplington is an artist who works with photography, painting and sculpture. His work is held in many major collections around the world including MOMA, New York and the Tate Gallery, London.