This morning, Gucci Group told WWD that a private funeral, for family member’s only, will be held in London today in honor of Alexander McQueen.
As for a public memorial, that will happen later on this year, since they’re busy focusing on the Paris show– a statement that’s absurd, disrespectful and disturbing.
A memorial should come before the bottom line and the profit-related concerns. Perhaps someone should stop and consider that holding off for a season or two might bode better for the brand’s success in the long run.
Meanwhile, in happier McQueen related news, Daphne Guinness will put her collection on display at FIT next September. She and Valerie Steele will curate the exhibition and focus on Daphne’s personal style. Plenty of Comme des Garcons, Balenciaga and Alaia will be included with her McQueen pieces.
Tags: Alexander McQueen, Gucci Group, WWD
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You know I disagree with your statement that the Paris show is disrespectful, Lauren. I think its wonderful testament to his legend that the house will go on. I also think it is unfair to deprive the world of the masterpieces Mr. McQueen created before his death. We need McQueen and of course it will never be the same without him at the helm, but it represents more than the man himself.
Edwin it was obviously BRITT not Lauren who wrote it . FAT SILLY WOMAN. Mcqueen's Paris show , that usually brings editors to tears anyway, will be the biggest memorial the brand can have. Britt you just suck… again, and again.
please don't fool yourselves, of course gucci group is continuing with the show because of the bottom line, it has nothing to do with “honoring” him. it would make a lot more sense (and taste) to hold a special show with the clothes after fashion week is over, not to try to squeeze it in like everything's completely normal. you have to remember that it's not just gucci group running the show here, it's ppr, a multinational company that runs all of its business based on one, penultimate factor: the bottom line. unfortunately, it's tasteless, shitty, and you kind of have to wonder what this makes gucci group's other designers wonder about their own positions and personal relevancy to their brands, even if your brand bares your own birth-given name.
It seems to me at first go that showing the designs he worked so hard on for this year at the time and place they were intended to be shown is a more tasteful and pointed memorial; since either would be a gathering of everyone who's anyone, at least the show will highlight his vision and legacy. The family may also have preferred that business go on as usual so they could mourn in private and let his work take center stage at this time – keep in mind they lost both him and their mother/wife nearly simultaneously. Probably the last thing they want at the moment is yet another service to attend. So regardless of whether Gucci Group's motives are purely heartless, this may actually be the most respectful move for the family.
We'll reserve judgment until after the show, but surely there's going to be some sort of reference to all of the things McQueen accomplished and was known for.
Have to disagree on putting everything on hold for a year just because. If it takes a season or two to find the right person to carry the brand on, that's one thing, but as tragic as McQueen's death is, life goes on for people working for the company in all sorts of roles. As much of a genius as he was, McQueen wasn't the only person affected by his brand. I'm sure there are assistants, managers and people who you've never heard of who put their time, energy and talent into building things up. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to be paralyzed in grief and forget that.
Not to mention, what better memorial could there be than to display a collection which will surely remind everyone of what an innovative talent McQueen was.
I do think that statement is disrespectful. It implies that continuing on with the Paris show (and making money) is more important than properly remembering and honoring McQueen. It could have been worded with more sensitivity. That said, I think it could be great to go on with the show and have it serve as a bit of a memorial also. I guess I'll reserve judgment. However you feel about it, personally attacking Britt for her views isn't cool.
To think that considering whether or not the brand is being disrespectful to the designer is a ludicrous waste of time. McQueen, the person, was an employee of McQueen, the brand. Don't get confused by thinking that McQueen himself was the brand. From a business perspective (which, if you ever want to enjoy fashion, is really the only perspective, as fashion is a business that must make money to thrive) carrying on without the creative director is apparently a feasible and worthwhile pursuit.
Please, stop getting fashion and business mixed up, Fashionista. I read you daily because I love you. But you make this mistake often. Fashion and business are one in the same. Without business, fashion does not have the means to exist. It is just the same as in art: without people buying art, an artist does not have the means to create new art.
Hopefully the show will be more of a tribute to McQueen… he was such an inspiration to so many if done right showing this collection could be a great memorial of the genius he was. I agree no one will be able to replace McQueen, but since he said he wanted the brand to be his legacy I think this may be what he would have wanted.
I think that this site's insistence that having a presentation during fashion week is disrespectful to McQueen's memory is misguided. McQueen lives on through his work, which the presentation will honor. Holding off on shows/presentations/production for multiple seasons would be a ridiculous financial decision and would kill any possibility of the McQueen label continuing, and McQueen is on record as saying he wanted the brand to have a life beyond him. I think that so far PPR has handled McQueen's death with sensitivity. If people who actually knew McQueen were complaining about how PPR was handling things, maybe I would change my mind, but they aren't.
I think I should clarify–I don't think it's disrespectful to show the collection, the pieces that McQueen did finish. In fact, like any fan, I can't wait to see the clothes and I think their being shown, at some point, honors his legacy. However, something about the way Gucci Group, or PPR, has handled the whole thing rubs me the wrong way. Their statements just don't sit right–and I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.
I agree that the idea that focusing on presenting McQueen's last collection is not misguided. McQueen is being privately remembered by his close family and friends. Furthermore, you have no idea what kind of public memorial they are planning for him, it make take a great deal of time to plan due to the high amounts of public attention. Thirdly, the family also may have wanted the last show to continue during runway week. The general feelings at the McQueen team may have felt it seemed the right thing to do too.
I think it was a short statement that was easy to read into in a negative way.
But that seems to be one of the themes of this site, that at times they read into things in a possibly inaccurate way in order to create a news story or relevant post.
call me old-fashioned, but I think memorials should be timely, not because sentiments expire, but because it’s discourteous to do otherwise. gucci group’s press releases read so clinically, and it’s disheartening because they are overtly prioritizing a show over honoring his death. yes, the show will be a tribute in its own right, but given recent statements it does not come without the implication that money maters more than memorial, and that’s fuck up. when a family member dies you don’t put the wake on hold because you have a deadline to make at work.
no one is confused as to why the business is doing it, it’s just unsettling. let people be upset.
The bottom line is We all miss McQueen,but when a bajillion dollars is invested in a brand a lot more than respect has to be taken into consideration for (like a bunch of jobs that employ the brand)…. This is further evidence that the show must go on (if anyone contemplates suicide reach out for help) because the world will continue with or without you. I think the best way to honor McQueen is for sites to instead write essays in a tribute to his life instead of debating on whats tasteful and whats not….It would better serve the nature of our industry and keep the hate level down.
With all due respect to McQueen's creative genius, it still has to be agreed upon that his act was supremely selfish.Did he give a thought about all those people(his employees) who were dependent on him? Imagine that spanner he has thrown in their lives.Once John Galliano commented that he had to take care of his health because 800 people's mortgages were dependent on him.Please remember that this is a suicide and not a natural death! So there is nothing wrong in Gucci's decision and by the way why are you raking it as an issue? To create a controversy and get some readership mileage out of the whole thing.You yourself are guilty of the same crime you are accusing Gucci off! Shame!
Agree with everything said above.
Will also add that McQueen committed suicide. He took his own life away. Should that be reason to shut down the brand and leave many without a job?
Are you, Britt, doing any mourning yourself? You're so angry at Gucci Group, but you're also hopping from show to show. They have jobs to do, just like you.
If you treat his last show as just a fashion show, then you've made a mistake. You CAN honor him there. That is his life's work.
I'm glad you brought up the suicide issue. So now, when I think of Alexander, Daul Kim, Dash Snow, DJ AM, I don't think about all the cool great things they did, I think about how they left.
Having separate funerals especially for someone of his stature could be dangerous, considering more than a couple thousand people are sure to come out for it and to pay their respects, but I think doing a public display for fans and other individuals is never right.