Karen Elson in ‘Deliverance’ Alexander McQueen’s 2004 Womens Spring Summer Collection
Inspired by the 1970s Sydney Pollack film They Shoot Horses Don’t They, choreographed by Michael Clark who, with McQueen, recreated the famous dance marathon theme, this outstanding collection is both a celebration and subversion of red carpet glamour. Working with the sinuous thirties silhouette of the film’s set period, garments are executed with a value for traditional craftsmanship that leads to some of the most breathtakingly beautiful pieces. At the same time, the backdrop of America during the Great Depression is unsettling: a battle between the beautiful and the damned. The professional dancer who closes the show wears exactly the same silver dress as model Karen Elson who opens it but in the second instance, the sequins are tarnished and the embroidery unpicked and distressed.
