Gothic snowflake

It’s February 2008 and Alexander McQueen is presenting one of his now-renowned collections in Paris evocatively titled The Girl Who Lived in the Tree. The backdrop is inky black except for a spotlighted giant tree wrapped in fabric that dominates the set. The show begins and the models emerge, mostly dressed in black and tulle. One outfit to debut Look 20, is a black fitted dress with ballerina-esque tutu, overlaid with a stark black leather shell, laser cut in complex snowflake shapes, set against a white silk base. McQueen’s Look 20, unofficially called the Snowflake dress, the work turns the pretty and delicate snowflake on its head. The NGV warmly thanks Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family for enabling this acquisition for the NGV Collection.

In 2021 the NGV was delighted to acquire an example of McQueen’s Look 20, dress into the Fashion and Textiles collection as a gift from Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family and conserve it for inclusion in the summer exhibition Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse.

Look 20 was presented in The Girl Who Lived in the Tree collection, in Paris on 29 February 2008. Typical of McQueen, the runway show was a breathtaking and complex work of art. At the centre of the set stood a model of a giant tree which was inspired by a 600-year-old elm tree that grew in the gardens of McQueen’s Sussex home. The wrapping of the tree was inspired by the work of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. In the spirit of anarchy, American grunge-rock band Nirvana’s Come As You Are blasted from the speakers, as models, primarily dressed in black, acted out McQueen’s fairytale narrative about a girl who, in McQueen’s own words:

‘…was a feral creature living in a tree. When she decided to descend to earth, she transformed into a princess’.¹Alexander McQueen in Interview, 2008, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, https://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/tag/the-girl-who-lived-in-the-tree/, date accessed 12 08 2022.

Look 20 dress was seen in the half of his show which featured dark palettes, corseted waists, ballerina tulle skirts and backcombed hair, giving the models a distinctively gothic appearance.

Despite the dark palette of this first part of the collection being dark, the NGV’s dress is one of a smaller number of costumes that were brighter and strikingly decorative, featuring delicate elm trees, snowflakes and peacocks.²Claire Wilcox, Alexander McQueen, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2015, p. 305

Look 20, like many costumes in McQueen’s later collections, is sculpted by corsetry under the dress. It is made in two separate pieces. The underdress, which has a zip-fastened corset attached to a ballerina tutu, has with multiple layers of gathered silk tulle over a base of firm nylon netting. The top decorative shell layer is a delicate framework of geometric snowflakes, achieved with laser cut black patent leather. In some areas the leather is a framework exposing the tulle below, in other areas it is adhered to white silk faille. This outer leather shell is seamed at the waist, sides and bust darts and also fastens with zip at the back.

Snowflake dress was purchased for the NGV Collection from a specialist vintage fashion dealer, who acquired it from the original owner. As a textile conservator, I cannot help feeling joy that a dress has had a life, as this one evidently has. The dress had curious stains and white accretions, and numerous tears to the fragile silk tulle. Both the leather shell and the corset of the underdress had been let out significantly by adding fabric extensions and chunky plastic zips which were not original. Quirky bright pink stains were especially visible on many areas on the tulle skirt as well as the leather and white silk components. These appeared as solid accretions but in some places an unsuccessful attempt at cleaning had been made, causing the stain to spread. The accretions had the appearance of sugar with red food colouring, likely to be candy floss or pink icing.

A detail of Look 20, dress 2008-2009

As part of the conservation treatment the materials of the dress were analysed, as these would influence treatment decisions such as cleaning methods. The tulle and faille fabrics were confirmed to be silk by compound microscopic analysis. The top surface of the leather was analysed using a handheld FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy) machine and its coating was found to likely be polyurethane.

The conservation treatment of the dress commenced with photographing and assessing its current condition. Discussions with curators confirmed it would be ideal if the dress was returned to an appearance more in keeping McQueen’s original vision. This could be done by restoring the original lines, or silhouette of the dress, particularly within the torso, and reducing the appearance of the stains. To begin treatment, the dress was given the usual brush vacuuming, to reduce the dust and particulates collected over time, and the holes in the tulle silk were repaired using a stitched technique.

Next, the extensions at the back were carefully unstitched. Close examination of small fragments of thread still sitting in original stitch-holes confirmed that the original stitching attaching the zip was black. While we knew the zipper removed was unlikely to be original, research was needed to find a suitable replacement. On examination, it was found that every McQueen piece in the NGV collection uses a YKK zip. For this reason, dressmaking zips of this brand were sourced and handstitched in place meticulously using the original stitch holes and black polyester thread. A complication was not being able to use pins in this process when working on the leather components, as adding small holes to the patent leather was not desirable. Before the zips were attached, black silk ribbon was stitched along the back openings of the corset to reduce risk of further damage from the zip to the fragile silk tulle on the bodice.

NGV Conservator of Textiles, Kate Douglas undertaking textile conservation of Look 20, dress 2008-2009

To clean the pink food stains, the accretions were gently removed using a soft bamboo stick. A range of aqueous stain removal solutions were investigated to reduce the stains from the pink food colouring. A 5% oxalic acid in deionised water solution was found to be highly effective in reducing the stain, after which the cleaned area was flushed with deionised water. Finally, swabs with slightly damp deionised water were used to clean stains from the patent leather to return its original shine.

To present the dress for the Alexander McQueen exhibition, its mannequin will be skilfully padded to fill it out to the shape of the dress and the many layers of black silk tulle will be steamed. This will enable us to achieve the dramatic silhouette so important to McQueen, as well as supporting the work during its time on display. The dress will be styled as the work was seen on the catwalk, with white tights and a pair of black shoes loaned from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

It is the privilege of a costume conservator to study the workmanship and materials of a costume at close range but also to see the evidence of an owners’ wear. In this case, the tears, extensions and extensive spreading of a pink edible substance suggested that the owner had very much enjoyed the use of the dress. After acquisition by the NGV and treatment by textile conservation, the dress is now restored to a state that better reflects McQueen’s vision. This allows visitors to appreciate the impressive worksmanship used to produce the leather shell.

Kate Douglas is NGV Conservator of Textiles.

The NGV warmly thanks Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family for their support.

Notes