'In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692' Alexander McQueen's 2007 Autumn / Winter Collection

From the depths of McQueen's dark and angry edge of his creativity, full of personal passion and based on a daunting revelation from his family's history of witchcraft, paganism and prosecution lies this collection. His mother, who traces family trees made a startling discovery that her bloodline leads back to an ancestor who was a victim of the Salem witch trials, hanged in the Puritan hysteria of 1692.

"Bold, rich spectrum of blues and yellows"

The models sported a bold, rich spectrum of blues and yellows harshly used up to their eyebrows which were sharp, intense and black. A cat-like eyeliner used around the eyes added femininity to the look and linked strongly to ancient Egypt, specifically Cleopatra. Despite the striking eye make-up the rest of the face had minimal to no colour included, nude lips and skin toned shades made the face seem like a blank canvas, drawing attention to the eyes.

"Mystifying theatrical value"

We are no stranger to McQueen showing dark, disturbing themes in his work. There is no lack of this here as we are exposed to a daunting soundtrack of wolf howls, thunder clashes and eerie sound effects opening the show to reveal three women's faces emerging out of darkness, possibly resembling the three that McQueen is related to himself. This started a whole macabre of film including swarming locusts, naked women, decaying skulls and bloody faces; underneath this a black sand circle covered the floor featuring a blood red pentagram in which the models walked along. Everything about this set radiates every aspect of paganism, witchcraft and horror greatly contributing to the environment needed for this collection to thrive. The mystifying theatrical value of this set is both a friend and enemy to McQueen's collection, despite being beautifully twisted and interesting this was relatively distracting and drew attention away from the pieces in the collection.

"Incredible feel of female power" 

Greeted with a wide, pod-like shape and an arched-back structure shows McQueen experimenting with new shape, very different to his usual corset mould silhouette which is refreshing and paired with a set of black leather leggings looks similar to a beetle. Infusion of traditional, religious and present interpretations of witchcraft with Egyptian imagery is increasingly present as the show unfolds; unveiling into a final goddess-like piece featuring glimmering heavily used mesh, Egyptian pattern and even glowing golden skin finalising the collection perfectly. Intimidation and curiosity radiates from haunting masks in which McQueen is known to be an expert at proven in his previous collections creating some of the most iconic head/face wear in fashion; followed by grand head pieces including an interesting waxing crescent shape symbolising witchcraft excellently. McQueen concentrated on metal, leather and fur emitting an incredible feel of female power which is an excellent interpretation of overcoming the discrimination women faced during the Salem witch trials.

This collection is very powerful and symbolic, taking any on-looker into a world of horror, power, fear and triumph. Despite negative points in his show aspects this is just one of the many iconic collections of McQueen, outrageous and stylish.

View the full fashion show below: