It was the greatest show on Earth, or at least in Paris, which might be its equivalent in the fashion galaxy: another McQueen mega-show in the Bercy sports center, the guests waving tickets at the door like stadium concert goers, only in three-inch reptile platforms and Rick Owens leather jackets. McQueen enthusiast and social icon Daphne Guinness skunked her hair with black streaks for the occasion. She was seated just in front of Pam Hogg, whose own coif, dyed an eerie shade of earwax, seemed to glow in the dark like a poisonous deep-sea jellyfish, which was in keeping with the theme: an undersea fantasy of evolution (or mutation). The show started with a projection by Nick Night of a model attacked by snakes who morphs into whipping coils of something that looked like DNA helices in snake-scale, at which point two giant–and terrifying–dolly-mounted robotic arms started swinging and sliding, jabbing at the audience and projecting their images onto the screen. Fabrics were computer-printed in symmetrical snakeskins or swirling patterns, like drops of ink (or blood) in water. The first looks–impossible to say whether they were for day or night–consisted primarily of short dresses, often asymmetrical or with large, gathered shoulders. There was a passage of tailored black leather, which was unexpected, and the final bits included chemically iridescent puffs of transparent silk moiré. I’ve never seen an animal theme quite like this one, recalling the nature and biology of Art Nouveau, but gone feral: prints drawn from aerial views of the collapsing barrier reef, of spiny insects, venemous snakes, and marine anatomy. Hair and styling were, as usual, big stories chez McQueen: stacked braids and twin up-do’s pinned or sprayed into electrified humps (which could only have been the work of Guido or Odile), makeup that included prostheses that turned cheekbones into exoskeletal protrusions, and the shoes! Outside the show, some said they were meant to resemble abalone shells or lobster claws and the final pair was bead-encrusted to imitate jumbo-grain shark leather. The majority, however, were in python and marbled leathers, sometimes with heels that looked cobbled together with bits of crashed spaceship.
