LONG LOST TAPES BY MCQUEEN

During London Fashion Week, fashion enthusiasts received a surprise. Short film 'The Long Lost Tapes' premiered with never-before-seen footage of fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who died in 2010.

Fashion lovers got a big surprise during London Fashion Week. Short film 'The Long Lost Tapes' premiered on an online platform. The film never before showed footage of fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who died in 2010. The images provide an intriguing glimpse into the creativity and personality of a designer in the fashion world that is still missed. Text: Fleur de Jong
Image: Gary Wallis | FashionUnited | Pierre Verdy | AFPThe images were commissioned by photographer Gary Wallis, who attended every McQueen show between 1992 and 1996. The film shows a young Alexander McQueen at the British estate Hilles House. The fashion designer is filmed doing cartwheels and wiggling in the air with his bare feet.

Clothes made just before show

The film also takes you to the London district of Soho, where the designer's favorite fabric shop and pastry chef was located. In the last scene of the film, the viewer is in Cafe de Paris, the location of the McQueen show in February 1994. The images show that McQueen, just before the models enter, cuts large slits in the tulle skirts that they wear. Photographer Wallis says that the clothes were made while the models were taking to the catwalk.

All the images are filmed in grainy black and white, which, according to the photographer, was a conscious choice by McQueen, who did not want the film to be 'slick'. 

The images in the film were actually intended to be played during an event in New York. However, the material disappeared into a warehouse in London and was forgotten. Only in 2018, when McQueen's documentary was released, did the tapes emerge from under the dust again.