Setting the Scene

At some shows, the backdrops were so remarkable it was hard to focus on the clothes.

Published Nov 24, 2008

Photographs by Benjamin Lowy

Alexander McQueen
Location: Paris
The Stage: Legendary taxidermy gallery Deyrolle may have burned to the ground, but the peculiar art was alive and well at Alexander McQueen, where the stage was crowded with all manner of wild beasts (lions and tigers and bears) set against a backdrop of a revolving Earth.
Inspiration: Program notes indicated that McQueen’s mind was on Charles Darwin and the damaging effects of industrialization on the natural world.

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