WEBVTT
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..:: Presented By ZarFilm Website ::..
.:: www.bolboljan.net ::.
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Sminky-Pinky.
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Minks.
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You mean like a...
JIV-II
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A "V"? All right.
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Lots of people say,
"I discovered Alexander McQueen."
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But you don't discover talent.
Talent's there.
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You open doors for talent. You push it
through or you help it along.
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No one discovered Alexander McQueen.
Alexander McQueen discovered himself.
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Lee had this
very strange CV.
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I wasn't very good at school.
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I was always drawing clothes
in every lesson,
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in science, in biology and...
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But I used to enjoy art most.
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When he left school
he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.
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He was out of work.
Looking for work, I should say.
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Because my husband's very strict
on the children going out to work.
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We was watching
a television programme one evening
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and they was saying
that they couldn't get apprentices
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to work in Savile Row.
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So I just said to him,
"Why don't you go and try?
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"Just knock on the door.
They can only either say yes or no."
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And that's exactly what he done.
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Anderson & Sheppard
started in 1906.
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We like to do things
slightly different to other people.
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We have a house style.
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That's what we're going to teach
the apprentices to make.
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I was taught by a master
tailor from County Cork in Ireland.
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He was the best tailor
we had on the premises.
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You start off padding collars,
putting in pockets,
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but you're expected
to make a full jacket
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ready for fitting
by the end of the first year.
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As soon as you put it on,
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it should fit like a glove
and you know it's made for you.
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I knew I couldn't survive in a
place like that for the rest of my life,
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cluttered in a small workshop,
sitting on the bench, padding lapels.
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But I did have a passion
and I was good at it.
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I was good at tailoring a jacket.
I was quick at learning trousers.
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I wanted to learn everything.
"Give me everything."
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It was
the beginning of the '90s
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when I had a bespoke tailoring shop
in Mount Street
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and he just walked in one day.
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He looked like a skinhead,
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but he just told me
he can cut a frock coat
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much better
than the 50-year-old tailor I had.
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So I was very curious
and I just told him,
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"OK, show me what you can do."
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I never really made clothes
in a traditional way.
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I was experimenting myself
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in how to create structure
and volumes.
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I'd begun to just take in material,
any material.
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And, by putting them all together,
somehow you can start to create
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this three-dimensional form.
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He wanted to understand
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why I'm doing it this way
or that way.
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When Lee was 17, he said,
"I'll make you a couple of skirts. ”
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And I've got to say,
they fitted like a glove.
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They were so fitted to my body
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I couldn't even
move my legs, hardly,
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but I used to get compliments
on this skirt.
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I did use to wonder,
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"I hope he finds the right thing
for himself in life."
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He was a sweet boy
from the East End,
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looking to make money.
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We needed technical help,
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machinists, pattern cutters.
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We needed people
who had hands-on experience
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in making clothes.
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He gave me no attitude,
was never late,
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always knew what he was doing,
always delivered.
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He listened continually
to Sinéad O'Connor, which was quite odd.
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No one else liked
Sinéad O'Connor at the time
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but he really liked her for some reason.
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I always remember him with his Walkman
on, listening to Sinéad O'Connor.
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Three, two, one, ignition.
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Lift-off.
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Red or Dead was
this very young streetwear company.
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When I said to him
that the Space Baby collection
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was based on the anniversary
of the men landing on the moon,
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he was like, "What?"
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He didn't know
that you could take a subject
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that had no relation to clothing
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and actually get inspiration from that
to design clothing.
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So, he didn't understand
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this idea of visual research
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or historic references
or sexual references.
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We copy you on the ground.
The Eagle has landed.
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He must have
asked me questions,
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"What can I do next?
How can I push myself forward?"
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And at the time
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all the designers in Italy
were opening diffusion lines.
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He went to Italy with no language,
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no place to stay,
no money, no qualifications.
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I thought, "Within a week he'll be back
with his tail between his legs."
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A week later, maybe 10 days,
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I get a call from Lee from Italy.
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He'd landed a job
as an assistant for Romeo Gigli.
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To say I was shocked
was an understatement.
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I said to him,
"OK, I'm looking for a new jacket.
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"I have in my mind this shape
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"but my tailors,
they cannot reach that shape.
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"Maybe you can help me to do it."
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And we start to do that jacket
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and within the first fitting
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I say, "No, it's wrong.
That is not what I'm looking for."
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So with the tailor,
with Lee, they did one more.
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We did the second fitting
and again I take out the lining,
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look inside the jacket
and it was wrong.
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Third fitting I say,
"No, it's incorrect."
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And I take out the lining
and inside the jacket
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Lee wrote with a black pen,
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"Fuck you, Romeo."
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That was a time
when I was looking for new shapes,
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for shapes, for shapes...
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And he was looking
so deeply and hard.
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He was really deeply looking
to understand everything.
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He was leaving my studio
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because he wanted to study
more and more and more.
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You can't teach talent.
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But what you can do is make them better
at what they do, or more professional.
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And to me, the whole thinking
behind this MA
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was to make them work in teams,
working together,
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as you do in the fashion world.
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I saw this unprepossessing,
I must say,
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very shabby,
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very unattractive...
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I hate to even say this
but it was true.
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...boy with a bundle of clothes
over his arm outside my office.
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So I said to him,
"Who are you looking for?"
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And he said, "I've come to see you."
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But I had no job,
which he said he was after.
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The whole thing intrigued me.
He was passionate.
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And to me this is the secret, really.
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You... If you tap into that.
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I found myself saying,
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"Well, I think you should come
on my course."
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And I couldn't offer him money.
That was really sad.
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And it was patently obvious
he had none.
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Aunt Renee said
she had money in the bank,
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sitting there not doing anything,
and she would rather help Lee.
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She'd worked
in the rag trade.
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She knew
that Lee had talent.
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And he came back and said,
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"My aunt is going to pay the fees
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"and I'm coming."
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Saint Martins
was the place to go.
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But what I liked about it
was the freedom of expression
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and being surrounded
by like-minded people.
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We got on really well because
we had the same sense of humour.
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And he laughed all the time,
so he was just funny and disrespectful.
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And he'd do catwalk shows down
the corridor. He'd just muck around.
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Whenever he could muck around,
he'd muck around.
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I was teaching there
at the time as well.
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And he was not frightened to tell
people, "I know better than you."
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Even the tutors.
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He was a bit of a nightmare student
because he knew so much.
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I'm sure he was a pain
and did interrupt people.
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He didn't actually dare interrupt me.
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But he used it. He used it
as I intended him to use it.
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And he'd come to a painting or a book
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and, not having had a formal education,
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it was all new to him.
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And that was it.
He reinterpreted things in his way.
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It wasn't filtered through,
as with a lot of us
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who'd had
more conventional backgrounds.
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I loved that.
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He knew where to go for everything.
London was his town.
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"Where do I get my buttonholes?"
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He'd go,"You want to go
to Martin in Soho."
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"If you want fabric, then you want to go
to Berwick Street, Shepherd's Bush."
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He would take me to gay bars
and he would take me to lesbian bars
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and he'd, like, sit me there
and he'd go,
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"This is what you want.
This is what you want."
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I'd go, "No, I just want to go home.
Can I just go home and do my homework?"
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The course always ended
with the degree show.
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No other college
had ever been invited, as Iwas,
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to show during British Fashion Week.
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He called me when he
was finishing the final collection
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and asked me to come in to have a look
and talk to him about it.
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It had all the elements.
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H had the history of the East End.
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It had the darkness,
Jack the Ripper stalks his victims.
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It had the research.
It had a really great story behind it.
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He was reading books
like Perfume,
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which is all about the murder of women,
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and he had a very dark side to him
as well,
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so he was drawing
from a“ of these influences
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and then creating something
very beautiful out of it.
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The pieces went past me
and they moved in a way I've never seen.
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And I wanted them. They were modern.
They were classical.
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He would do a black coat
and then he'd line it with human hair.
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And it was blood-red inside
so it was like a body.
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It was like flesh with blood.
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And I just thought,
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"This is the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen."
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it was about sabotage and tradition,
which is the perfect combination,
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and beauty and violence.
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All the things that t suppose
the '90s represent.
00:14:20.651 --> 00:14:22.449
How difficult is it
to discover genius?
00:14:22.570 --> 00:14:25.198
Not at all difficult,
cos they have it and I spot it.
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If you're interested
in late 20th-century clothes,
00:14:28.826 --> 00:14:30.828
Isabella Blow is a big player.
00:14:31.329 --> 00:14:34.424
I was at American Vogue
and Anna Wintour discovered me
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and I worked for her
and then I went to British Vogue.
00:14:37.502 --> 00:14:40.346
McQueen was her knight
and she was gonna take him to the top.
00:14:40.463 --> 00:14:41.510
She was determined.
00:14:41.756 --> 00:14:44.635
I just knew. I rang up his mother
and said, "You've produced a genius."
00:14:45.593 --> 00:14:47.891
You know, he's like
the Saint Laurent of the year 2000.
00:14:48.262 --> 00:14:49.764
And his mother said to him,
00:14:49.847 --> 00:14:53.397
"Look, there's this mad woman
who keeps trying to call us.
00:14:53.810 --> 00:14:55.312
"She wants
some of your clothes."
00:14:55.436 --> 00:14:57.859
I rang between six
and eight times a day.
00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:00.574
Finally I got a little voice
on the end of the line, "Hello?"
00:15:01.025 --> 00:15:04.199
I said, "Can I make an appointment
with you? My name's Isabella Blow."
00:15:04.404 --> 00:15:06.327
I don't know to this day
if he knew who I was.
00:15:06.489 --> 00:15:08.787
No, I just wanted the money.
I was desperate for money.
00:15:09.158 --> 00:15:11.707
I wasn't interested in him either.
I just wanted the clothes.
00:15:12.036 --> 00:15:13.458
I didn't give her no money off.
00:15:13.621 --> 00:15:15.965
I said, "That's 350, love.
You can take it or leave it."
00:15:16.374 --> 00:15:18.001
And...
00:15:18.209 --> 00:15:19.381
And she loved that.
00:15:21.712 --> 00:15:26.309
It wasn't until I went
to the Bluebird Garage collection
00:15:26.634 --> 00:15:28.011
that he did that I...
00:15:28.761 --> 00:15:31.059
Well, I just thought,
"What have I unleashed?"
00:15:31.431 --> 00:15:34.560
And he walked across
and said, "I owe it all to you,"
00:15:34.767 --> 00:15:36.861
which I thought was very, very sweet
00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:38.737
because it was far from true.
00:15:38.813 --> 00:15:43.319
He'd worked every...
Every inch of the way himself.
00:15:55.413 --> 00:15:58.838
Every fashion designer wants
to create an illusion,
00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.345
create things that disturb
and fascinate people.
00:16:02.503 --> 00:16:04.676
Clothes are really beautiful
to work with,
00:16:04.797 --> 00:16:06.674
but there's also a reality outside.
00:16:06.757 --> 00:16:08.134
Some people don't want to hear it.
00:16:08.342 --> 00:16:11.596
It's all lovey-dovey and everything's
fine in the world all the time.
00:16:11.846 --> 00:16:13.098
And I tell it the way it is.
00:16:15.433 --> 00:16:18.312
In the '90s,
you used to make clothes to go out.
00:16:18.478 --> 00:16:20.526
You used to make something
just for that night.
00:16:20.688 --> 00:16:24.363
You're going to this nightclub.
This person is on, or that DJ.
00:16:24.650 --> 00:16:26.323
"Right, what are we going to do?"
00:16:26.903 --> 00:16:30.077
t think Lee took everything.
t mean, that's one of Lee's strengths.
00:16:30.323 --> 00:16:33.247
He took a lot of Bowery/s aesthetic.
00:16:33.493 --> 00:16:36.542
It's transgressive, it's in-your-face.
00:16:36.913 --> 00:16:40.133
And he thought,
"How does this translate onto a runway?"
00:16:40.833 --> 00:16:43.131
Lee also used that language of fetish
00:16:43.503 --> 00:16:46.427
in terms of rubber
and latex and leather
00:16:47.215 --> 00:16:49.559
and put it into his fashion design.
00:16:51.344 --> 00:16:54.848
We started going out with each other
but part of me was thinking,
00:16:54.972 --> 00:16:57.851
"But also it's quite useful
cos I can sew as well. "
00:16:58.768 --> 00:17:00.611
It was literally anyone that could sew.
00:17:00.811 --> 00:17:03.860
It didn't matter whether they were
any good at sewing or not.
00:17:04.148 --> 00:17:06.150
Were they willing to come
and sit in the studio
00:17:06.275 --> 00:17:07.902
for, like, 16 hours a day?
00:17:08.069 --> 00:17:09.946
And were they going to be
fun to be around?
00:17:10.071 --> 00:17:14.451
Lee was the badly-behaved,
naughty school boy
00:17:14.617 --> 00:17:17.461
that was always doing pranks
on people in the pub,
00:17:17.787 --> 00:17:19.960
and that's the person
that I liked and loved.
00:17:31.092 --> 00:17:35.188
At the time I first met Lee,
Iwas living in Hoxton Square,
00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.899
and one day in pops this guy
00:17:38.349 --> 00:17:41.853
and I kind of figured he had rented,
you know, the downstairs.
00:17:41.978 --> 00:17:44.106
"Come in for a cup of tea.
Come in for a cup of tea."
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:45.777
And he asked what I did.
00:17:45.898 --> 00:17:48.742
I said, "Oh, you know, I do grooming
for men, hair and make-up. "
00:17:49.151 --> 00:17:51.529
And he goes,
"Oh. I'm having a show soon.
00:17:51.612 --> 00:17:53.535
"Would you do the hair and make-up
for the guys?"
00:17:53.781 --> 00:17:54.828
And I was like,
00:17:54.991 --> 00:17:57.210
"Don't you need to see
some of my work first?"
00:17:57.493 --> 00:17:59.495
I'd never done a show before,
you know, so...
00:17:59.954 --> 00:18:03.128
And he's like "No, no, no, no.
I can tell. I can tell."
00:18:03.624 --> 00:18:06.594
He said to me one day,
"I've decided to do my own collection. "
00:18:06.836 --> 00:18:09.931
I remember thinking "How on earth
does he think he's gonna have a business
00:18:10.131 --> 00:18:11.303
"and make a collection?
00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:16.225
"He's got nothing. He's got no money,
no wherewithal, no studio,
00:18:16.596 --> 00:18:19.099
"nobody to support him
and nothing behind him."
00:18:19.432 --> 00:18:22.276
And yet he was determined
this was what he was going to do.
00:18:23.185 --> 00:18:25.734
I survived on unemployment benefit
00:18:26.272 --> 00:18:28.320
and I bought all my fabrics.
00:18:29.442 --> 00:18:31.865
I bought all my fabrics
with my dole money.
00:18:32.445 --> 00:18:36.291
And I went round to my parents
for baked beans
00:18:36.407 --> 00:18:38.956
and tins of soup and things like that.
00:18:45.249 --> 00:18:47.126
This is my pooch.
00:18:47.376 --> 00:18:49.629
He said to me,
"I really need to get a logo."
00:18:49.795 --> 00:18:52.844
We asked my boyfriend at the time
if he would design it.
00:18:52.965 --> 00:18:55.138
It was my idea
to put the "C" inside the
00:18:55.217 --> 00:18:57.515
but then Dave designed the rest of it.
00:18:57.803 --> 00:19:01.603
He was fantastic at getting people to do
a phenomena! amount of work for him.
00:19:02.224 --> 00:19:03.851
And we were never, ever paid.
00:19:04.018 --> 00:19:07.488
In fact, we were paying him
to work for him.
00:19:07.813 --> 00:19:08.860
How amazing is that?
00:19:09.065 --> 00:19:12.740
Just to be pan' of it,
be part of his vision, yeah.
00:19:13.027 --> 00:19:15.997
He had that, even from
the very beginning, that pull.
00:19:16.280 --> 00:19:18.453
It's so bohemian. Warhol.
00:19:18.699 --> 00:19:19.746
Yeah.
00:19:19.909 --> 00:19:21.877
Dance your way
to success. Come on!
00:19:24.622 --> 00:19:26.249
Isabella was very keen
to call him Alexander.
00:19:26.374 --> 00:19:28.627
She thought it sounded better
as a designer.
00:19:29.001 --> 00:19:31.299
It sounded grander
and more romantic.
00:19:31.379 --> 00:19:33.473
Issie got criticised
for trying to make him posh.
00:19:33.547 --> 00:19:35.345
So what? Good for Issie.
00:19:35.675 --> 00:19:38.098
She was just trying
to make him successful. And she did.
00:19:38.219 --> 00:19:39.766
Alexander McQueen is a brand.
00:19:40.096 --> 00:19:42.315
Why do you love her
so much, Lee?
00:19:42.515 --> 00:19:45.359
Cos she's the same as me.
She doesn't care what people think.
00:19:45.768 --> 00:19:47.145
At the end of the day we're...
00:19:47.561 --> 00:19:49.734
We're separate entities
to everyone else
00:19:49.939 --> 00:19:51.907
and we have our own
personal view about things.
00:19:52.274 --> 00:19:54.151
When you fall in love
with something,
00:19:54.276 --> 00:19:57.701
you nurture it and you look after it
like it's your... Garden.
00:19:58.114 --> 00:20:00.116
People garden, they cook,
they do the same thing.
00:20:00.366 --> 00:20:02.039
My ingredients are clothes.
00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:05.334
She introduced him to everyone.
She championed him.
00:20:05.579 --> 00:20:08.583
So I suppose what initially started
as a work relationship for her
00:20:08.666 --> 00:20:10.088
became a creative friendship.
00:20:10.167 --> 00:20:12.716
She was someone
that was always really excited
00:20:12.837 --> 00:20:14.805
and wanted to see the next thing
and the new thing
00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:16.382
and wanted to push people.
00:20:16.507 --> 00:20:17.759
It was never about money.
00:20:18.300 --> 00:20:21.429
I never saw any money going
backwards and forwards between them.
00:20:23.097 --> 00:20:26.692
I just remember the laughter,
the exciting creativity of the mid-'90s.
00:20:26.976 --> 00:20:29.695
And the adventure they were on this
rocket they shot to the moon.
00:20:30.020 --> 00:20:32.773
I'm sure you're a hungry little thing.
00:20:34.108 --> 00:20:36.156
The early days
were very happy days.
00:20:36.610 --> 00:20:39.864
They were short times, but they were
beautiful and they were funny.
00:20:40.364 --> 00:20:41.832
Issie didn't have children
00:20:42.032 --> 00:20:45.787
so she threw her maternal love
to her protégé.
00:20:46.495 --> 00:20:49.214
I looked forward to seeing him
cos he made me laugh so much.
00:20:49.665 --> 00:20:51.884
Issie and McQueen
had a very dirty sense of humour.
00:20:52.293 --> 00:20:54.887
McQueen would describe Issie
as a cross between Lucrezia Borgia
00:20:55.004 --> 00:20:56.722
and a Billingsgate fish wife.
00:20:57.465 --> 00:20:59.513
Issie had a very vulgar humour.
00:20:59.717 --> 00:21:02.220
I always found the cocks
and the cunts slightly...
00:21:03.012 --> 00:21:04.685
Always a bit... Oh!
00:21:05.181 --> 00:21:07.479
I wasn't really into
their earthy humour.
00:21:08.058 --> 00:21:10.527
However rude McQueen got,
Issie was even worse.
00:21:10.728 --> 00:21:13.948
They loved to play off each other
like that and be outrageous.
00:21:14.023 --> 00:21:15.400
I know Alexander loves birds
00:21:15.566 --> 00:21:17.534
so I've got this bird hat on
designed by Philip.
00:21:17.985 --> 00:21:21.330
We're going to do some falconry tomorrow
cos Alexander's got a very...
00:21:21.822 --> 00:21:23.290
He's passionate about birds.
00:21:23.532 --> 00:21:25.660
We're going to fly some falcons
tomorrow afternoon.
00:21:47.097 --> 00:21:49.395
We did go and stay
at Hines a few times.
00:21:50.267 --> 00:21:52.861
You would end up
diving into Issie's dressing-up box
00:21:53.062 --> 00:21:54.359
and we'd all be wearing
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:56.858
fantastical costumes for dinner
and things like that.
00:21:58.692 --> 00:22:01.161
The world she inhabited
was so far removed
00:22:01.570 --> 00:22:04.119
from the world
that any of us had come from.
00:22:05.866 --> 00:22:07.413
There was a sort of unreality to it.
00:22:07.660 --> 00:22:11.915
Whenever we went to that house,
you just felt so at home.
00:22:12.665 --> 00:22:15.509
And I think Lee felt very at home there.
00:22:16.627 --> 00:22:20.757
(Detmaq They had this big sister, a fun
person to be with, who was outrageous.
00:22:21.173 --> 00:22:23.141
With Issie,
"Be as different as you can.
00:22:23.509 --> 00:22:25.386
"And keep going!
00:22:25.594 --> 00:22:27.938
"The more different,
the more I love it."
00:22:29.139 --> 00:22:31.233
I really don't like the norm.
I don't think it's...
00:22:31.600 --> 00:22:33.227
You don't move forwards, seriously.
00:22:33.352 --> 00:22:35.571
You just don't move forward
if you play safe.
00:22:35.896 --> 00:22:37.739
You really do piss a lot of people off.
00:22:44.280 --> 00:22:46.123
His first shows
were unbelievable.
00:22:46.365 --> 00:22:47.742
People were winded by them.
00:22:47.825 --> 00:22:51.125
People walked out.
Quite a few acerbic reviews.
00:22:51.412 --> 00:22:54.666
But everything else before
paled into comparison.
00:22:54.832 --> 00:22:56.926
I don't wanna do a show
that you walk out of
00:22:57.001 --> 00:22:59.845
feeling like you've
just had Sunday lunch.
00:22:59.962 --> 00:23:05.469
I want you to come out
either feeling repulsed or exhilarated.
00:23:05.718 --> 00:23:07.470
As long as it's an emotion.
00:23:07.928 --> 00:23:11.353
If you leave without emotion,
then I'm not doing myjob properly.
00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:12.687
So that's that.
00:23:12.766 --> 00:23:16.191
That's the thing about Alexander.
I think his clothes are very emotional.
00:23:16.520 --> 00:23:19.023
This coat is, like, based on a tramp,
00:23:19.273 --> 00:23:21.321
so it's based on someone
who hasn't got any money,
00:23:21.817 --> 00:23:23.819
standing in the street,
nowhere to sleep.
00:23:24.486 --> 00:23:26.580
You wrap it round yourself,
you feel fantastic.
00:23:26.989 --> 00:23:29.868
Then you have
all this passion and love
00:23:30.451 --> 00:23:33.546
and slashing
and sex and romance.
00:23:34.955 --> 00:23:37.549
The idea of the collection
was never to produce.
00:23:38.459 --> 00:23:40.461
The shows were all about publicity
00:23:40.836 --> 00:23:45.342
and creating a marketing ploy
for Alexander McQueen, the designer.
00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:47.301
They were
impossible to reproduce.
00:23:47.468 --> 00:23:49.891
They were made of plastic bags
or masking tape.
00:23:50.095 --> 00:23:51.187
They were show clothes.
00:23:51.639 --> 00:23:53.232
Lee started doing bumsters.
00:23:53.432 --> 00:23:56.231
These were cut so low that you could see
the model's pubic hair.
00:23:56.644 --> 00:23:58.692
It's nothing to do
with pubic hair.
00:23:58.979 --> 00:24:01.528
It's just a technical thing where,
as a tailor,
00:24:01.774 --> 00:24:03.651
you're breaking up the proportion
of the body
00:24:04.151 --> 00:24:06.574
by lowering the trousers,
elongating the torso.
00:24:06.946 --> 00:24:08.368
It's nothing to do with bum cleavage.
00:24:08.489 --> 00:24:10.867
It's an added bonus
if you've got a nice bum.
00:24:11.241 --> 00:24:12.584
He told that mannequin,
00:24:12.743 --> 00:24:15.166
"Put your pubic hairs
in Anna Wintoufs face."
00:24:17.790 --> 00:24:19.633
It's just funny, naughty behaviour.
00:24:20.459 --> 00:24:22.461
You could give Alexander £500
00:24:22.711 --> 00:24:24.713
and he could produce
30 pieces of clothing.
00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.259
He saw some cling film and said
"I'm gonna make a dress out of that. "
00:24:28.509 --> 00:24:30.682
'Tm going to put the model in it,
wrap her up."
00:24:30.970 --> 00:24:32.893
And he just cut this dress,
put a zip in it
00:24:33.013 --> 00:24:34.606
and suddenly that went down the runway.
00:24:34.974 --> 00:24:38.069
Getting a tyre
and running it over the suit.
00:24:39.728 --> 00:24:41.196
Things like that. Just genius.
00:24:41.772 --> 00:24:43.365
£4 worth of lace.
00:24:43.607 --> 00:24:45.325
Invisible zip, £1.
00:24:45.776 --> 00:24:47.619
Sprayed with car spray paint.
00:24:47.820 --> 00:24:50.664
They probably cost less than £10,
those dresses, to make.
00:24:50.864 --> 00:24:54.494
But, through that weird alchemy
of being cut and made by Lee,
00:24:54.702 --> 00:24:56.579
suddenly they're being requested.
00:24:57.162 --> 00:24:59.790
Avedon wanted to have
this dress for Sharon Stone.
00:24:59.999 --> 00:25:01.842
So it has to be in America now.
00:25:02.126 --> 00:25:04.879
"We need someone to fly over
with the dress on Concorde."
00:25:05.004 --> 00:25:08.349
That still upsets me to this day.
I didn't get to go on Concorde.
00:25:10.300 --> 00:25:11.643
It was me.
00:25:12.469 --> 00:25:14.517
That's almost the period
where I think,
00:25:14.722 --> 00:25:16.645
the madness really kicked in.
00:25:16.974 --> 00:25:19.898
The show was brilliant
but I'll wake up tomorrow and think,
00:25:20.144 --> 00:25:23.114
"I've got to get a bottle of milk.
Where am I going to get 42p from?"
00:25:23.439 --> 00:25:24.907
We went to a McDonald's.
00:25:25.232 --> 00:25:27.485
We got two cheeseburgers,
two fries, two Cokes.
00:25:28.110 --> 00:25:30.033
And I was that tired
that I just dropped the tray
00:25:30.237 --> 00:25:32.615
and then we had to pick
the food up off the floor.
00:25:33.198 --> 00:25:35.292
And I thought,
"This is a weird world,
00:25:35.409 --> 00:25:37.958
"that you've just shown the finale
of London Fashion Week
00:25:38.078 --> 00:25:39.705
"but we haven't got five quid to eat."
00:25:39.830 --> 00:25:42.049
That's how it is.
People have got to understand that.
00:25:42.207 --> 00:25:45.211
You're doing fucking fab shows
but you've got to start living.
00:25:45.377 --> 00:25:47.505
The Clothes Show,
you know, BBC One.
00:25:47.629 --> 00:25:50.508
At the time 12 million viewers.
You're 22 years old.
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:52.472
You're not in any of the shots
00:25:52.885 --> 00:25:56.185
and you're dictating the terms
on how you're going to appear.
00:25:56.263 --> 00:25:57.890
Because I was doing the shows
00:25:58.015 --> 00:26:00.438
on money that I got
from unemployment benefit,
00:26:00.517 --> 00:26:02.861
I could not afford
to show my face on camera
00:26:02.978 --> 00:26:06.278
because I would be arrested
for working as well as signing on.
00:26:06.523 --> 00:26:08.196
- Did it piss you off?
- No.
00:26:08.442 --> 00:26:10.115
It should have done.
That was the idea.
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:12.572
I really worked
that East End yob,
00:26:12.738 --> 00:26:17.460
this juxtaposition between a hooligan
and someone that uses a needle.
00:26:17.576 --> 00:26:19.044
And people couldn't fathom it.
00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:21.622
So it was new.
It was a breath of fresh air.
00:26:22.206 --> 00:26:25.085
Savile Row, Cockney geezer,
ding dong, all of that.
00:26:25.167 --> 00:26:27.420
He was aware
how seductive that was.
00:26:28.003 --> 00:26:29.926
I get a bit annoyed
when I read that.
00:26:31.340 --> 00:26:33.058
He was far from a bad boy.
00:26:33.467 --> 00:26:37.517
In fact, he was a very loving,
happy child
00:26:37.679 --> 00:26:39.397
and very generous.
00:26:40.015 --> 00:26:41.688
Beautiful face, huh?
00:26:43.185 --> 00:26:46.530
I just remember this one time
when I went round his house.
00:26:46.855 --> 00:26:49.950
I think I said something was shit
or something in front of his mum.
00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:51.902
He turned round,
glared at me and said,
00:26:51.985 --> 00:26:54.909
"Don't you fucking swear
in front of my fucking mother."
00:26:55.155 --> 00:26:57.954
We were never
what people called poor.
00:26:58.158 --> 00:27:00.581
My husband was a London taxi driver.
00:27:01.286 --> 00:27:02.754
Even though there was six children,
00:27:02.913 --> 00:27:05.507
they all had everything
that they should have had.
00:27:05.666 --> 00:27:08.135
I don't know, it just seems...
00:27:09.419 --> 00:27:12.673
Like, honest,
an honest place round here.
00:27:12.798 --> 00:27:15.802
You know where you stand,
if you know what I mean.
00:27:15.926 --> 00:27:18.725
If someone's going to mug you,
they tell you before they do it.
00:27:18.846 --> 00:27:20.348
I'm onlyjoking.
00:27:22.057 --> 00:27:24.401
From our granddads,
he got the sense of humour,
00:27:24.518 --> 00:27:26.361
which was, at times, wicked.
00:27:31.483 --> 00:27:34.282
I think that he struggled
coming out of that background
00:27:34.403 --> 00:27:35.905
and going into the world.
00:27:35.988 --> 00:27:37.990
I made the choice
to come out to my father.
00:27:38.115 --> 00:27:39.788
I'd told all my brothers
and sisters and aunts,
00:27:39.908 --> 00:27:42.252
but my father was a London taxi driver.
00:27:42.327 --> 00:27:43.920
He would come home at night and say,
00:27:43.996 --> 00:27:46.670
"God, I nearly run over
a bloody queer last night in Soho."
00:27:46.874 --> 00:27:48.046
I'd have to deal with this.
00:27:48.167 --> 00:27:52.092
My dad could be a bit cutting sometimes,
but he was joking.
00:27:52.504 --> 00:27:56.509
And if you didn't know him,
you'd probably take that the wrong way.
00:27:57.342 --> 00:28:00.687
Lee's father was saying,
"Sell your clothes in Brick Lane,"
00:28:01.096 --> 00:28:03.599
never quite understanding
what Lee was doing.
00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:07.103
My dad wanted me to be
some sort of mechanic or something,
00:28:07.311 --> 00:28:09.689
but... It never worked out that way.
00:28:12.149 --> 00:28:14.618
From our nan
he got that storytelling,
00:28:14.860 --> 00:28:17.329
that dark romance
of the Victorian times.
00:28:17.821 --> 00:28:21.166
I think that really lent itself
to his visions
00:28:21.408 --> 00:28:23.502
of the stories
that he wanted to tell.
00:28:24.411 --> 00:28:25.754
It's all right, Mother.
00:28:30.334 --> 00:28:32.336
Oh, Mother, come here.
No, I'm too ugly.
00:28:36.673 --> 00:28:40.052
She was very strong
and powerful
00:28:40.385 --> 00:28:42.604
and quite a lot was unsaid,
00:28:42.846 --> 00:28:46.020
but, my God, you realised there was
a really strong bond between them.
00:28:46.600 --> 00:28:48.944
She made him feel
like he could do anything.
00:28:50.771 --> 00:28:53.399
I always encouraged them to read
00:28:54.066 --> 00:28:55.409
and have lots of books
00:28:56.068 --> 00:28:59.197
because I myself loved history
and things like that.
00:29:00.781 --> 00:29:03.204
That's one about a Highland clan.
00:29:03.408 --> 00:29:06.912
She was looking into
the genealogy of the McQueen family
00:29:07.329 --> 00:29:09.331
and aimed at proving
00:29:09.957 --> 00:29:12.710
that the McQueens came
from McQueens of the Isle of Skye.
00:29:13.210 --> 00:29:14.928
It opened up his world.
00:29:15.045 --> 00:29:18.720
He was born in Stratford, but he knew
there was this other life for him
00:29:19.174 --> 00:29:20.676
which came from Scotland.
00:29:21.009 --> 00:29:22.761
She encouraged
the sort of fantasy
00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:24.972
and excitement of those stories
00:29:25.097 --> 00:29:26.394
and Lee went with it.
00:29:28.183 --> 00:29:32.108
You have two types of Scotland
people will associate themselves with,
00:29:32.312 --> 00:29:36.237
the Vivienne Westwood romantic Scotland,
swathes of tartan silk.
00:29:37.192 --> 00:29:40.071
My ancestry
is the Jacobites of Scotland.
00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:43.498
The war of the English and the Scottish
00:29:43.615 --> 00:29:47.461
where the English raped loads of women,
killed clans completely off.
00:29:47.911 --> 00:29:50.505
It's like a form of genocide.
It was then.
00:29:50.580 --> 00:29:52.207
And people don't realise this.
00:29:52.416 --> 00:29:55.215
I mean, take Bosnia.
How many dead people have you seen?
00:29:55.627 --> 00:29:57.254
There's millions of dead people
in Bosnia.
00:29:57.337 --> 00:29:58.680
It's just genocide in the end.
00:29:58.839 --> 00:30:01.809
People have got to realise that
it still goes on in the world today.
00:30:11.935 --> 00:30:13.983
There was something different
about him.
00:30:14.146 --> 00:30:19.824
He had this artistic energy in him
rather than like a fashion designer.
00:30:21.903 --> 00:30:25.032
I rang his mother and said,
"I want to work for your son."
00:30:26.658 --> 00:30:30.538
She gave rne the address
and I went one morning
00:30:30.787 --> 00:30:33.757
and ever since,
we were working every day
00:30:34.207 --> 00:30:36.175
on the Highland Rape collection,
00:30:36.418 --> 00:30:38.591
trying to get the pieces ready.
00:30:39.504 --> 00:30:40.630
There were times
00:30:40.714 --> 00:30:44.218
when he hadn't yet started working
on the collection and it was due soon
00:30:44.343 --> 00:30:46.471
and he would do one drawing
after another,
00:30:46.595 --> 00:30:48.814
after another, after another,
after another
00:30:49.014 --> 00:30:50.732
and there was a collection
in one evening.
00:30:50.974 --> 00:30:53.272
Very quick, very fluid.
00:30:53.894 --> 00:30:56.192
He was also very creative
at night.
00:30:56.438 --> 00:30:58.861
His adrenaline was much more alive
00:30:59.107 --> 00:31:01.485
and we usually used to put music.
00:31:02.402 --> 00:31:05.997
He would listen to the piano
and it became very important.
00:31:06.406 --> 00:31:09.910
The composer Michael Nyman
became part of his team.
00:31:11.203 --> 00:31:13.877
I was just enjoying myself
to watch him
00:31:14.081 --> 00:31:16.300
because he was sitting
like an old lady,
00:31:16.500 --> 00:31:19.219
his needle and his thimble.
00:31:19.711 --> 00:31:21.588
You can feel like he's...
00:31:21.922 --> 00:31:24.516
It's kind of a therapeutic work for him.
00:31:25.801 --> 00:31:27.474
He went into a sort of zone.
00:31:27.719 --> 00:31:29.596
I always used to say
his eyes went black
00:31:29.888 --> 00:31:32.141
because he suddenly was focusing
on what he was doing
00:31:32.307 --> 00:31:34.856
and he almost couldn't hear
anybody else.
00:31:36.228 --> 00:31:38.322
He could draft a jacket,
free-hand,
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:42.110
just with a piece of chalk,
so he wasn't using measurements.
00:31:42.192 --> 00:31:45.162
He could just, from his eye,
read someone's body measurements
00:31:45.278 --> 00:31:48.077
and then be able to draw that out
onto a bit of cloth.
00:31:48.782 --> 00:31:50.534
At heart, Lee was a romantic,
00:31:50.867 --> 00:31:53.916
and that romantic is because
of that physical relationship
00:31:54.121 --> 00:31:55.543
to what you produce,
00:31:55.664 --> 00:31:58.508
which then comes back
to that idea of craft in a way.
00:32:03.255 --> 00:32:05.633
The family always got
invites to the shows.
00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:07.642
It was very important
that my nan was there.
00:32:07.843 --> 00:32:09.971
He really wanted to make my nan proud.
00:32:10.303 --> 00:32:15.025
Aunt Renee and Mum made sure
that the models had some sandwiches.
00:32:15.225 --> 00:32:17.774
Mum would have probably done
her sausage rolls.
00:32:17.936 --> 00:32:22.191
We were all, as a group
of young, really cool, English models,
00:32:22.357 --> 00:32:26.737
so excited to see this man
that had this reputation.
00:32:27.320 --> 00:32:30.824
I was just amazed.
All these people, photographers...
00:32:31.366 --> 00:32:35.667
And I thought, "My God,
they're all here to see Lee.
00:32:36.037 --> 00:32:37.664
"I hope they're not disappointed."
00:32:37.831 --> 00:32:39.674
Because I thought,
00:32:39.833 --> 00:32:41.710
"This is just Lee from Stratford."
00:32:55.682 --> 00:32:57.684
The darkness,
00:32:58.518 --> 00:33:01.818
the going to the depths
and the recesses of one's mind
00:33:02.105 --> 00:33:05.484
to come up with such things
like Highland Rape.
00:33:05.609 --> 00:33:09.830
"I'm going to send down loads of girls
who look like they've just been raped."
00:33:10.739 --> 00:33:14.915
And then we were all looking
like we'd come out of a hedge backwards
00:33:14.993 --> 00:33:17.121
and I was going,
"Is this the hair and make-up?"
00:33:21.291 --> 00:33:23.635
They're not easy garments
to look at.
00:33:23.877 --> 00:33:26.847
They do look like something
from a crime scene.
00:33:35.597 --> 00:33:39.477
I honestly just thought
that he really just didn't like women,
00:33:39.768 --> 00:33:42.362
he didn't like the models,
he didn't like anything,
00:33:42.521 --> 00:33:44.398
he was just trying to torture us all.
00:33:44.648 --> 00:33:46.446
But his vision,
00:33:46.691 --> 00:33:48.364
when you actually came down,
00:33:48.818 --> 00:33:49.990
and the silhouette
00:33:50.195 --> 00:33:53.290
and the way he made you look
was so extraordinary.
00:33:54.491 --> 00:33:57.586
I don't think I really understood,
because I was 15 at the time,
00:33:57.744 --> 00:34:01.044
exactly what was going on
or the connotations of it.
00:34:01.998 --> 00:34:05.343
It wasn't until probably the next day
that I read the newspapers.
00:34:06.294 --> 00:34:08.296
And, you know,
there was quite a backlash
00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:09.802
of the statement of the show.
00:34:10.173 --> 00:34:12.175
I mean, it was pretty intense.
00:34:12.384 --> 00:34:16.981
But he made every single headline
and that's what he wanted to do.
00:34:17.514 --> 00:34:19.357
And he sure got it.
00:34:19.933 --> 00:34:21.776
Judith Church,
MP for Dagenham,
00:34:21.935 --> 00:34:24.108
thought there was no excuse
for such a show.
00:34:24.437 --> 00:34:27.156
The very title of the show,
Highland Rape,
00:34:27.274 --> 00:34:30.198
has been done to shock people.
It's been done to attract publicity.
00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:32.829
It has succeeded
and that, in a way, is sad,
00:34:32.988 --> 00:34:34.865
because I think women want
to look at fashion,
00:34:34.948 --> 00:34:36.291
but they don't want to see it
00:34:36.408 --> 00:34:38.911
in some way
as portraying them as a victim.
00:34:40.620 --> 00:34:43.624
I'm not a misogynist.
The idea was saying to the public,
00:34:43.999 --> 00:34:47.344
"A man takes from a woman.
The woman's not giving it."
00:34:47.502 --> 00:34:48.719
That's what rape is.
00:34:48.837 --> 00:34:51.681
My oldest sister was badly beaten up
by her husband.
00:34:52.007 --> 00:34:55.181
When you're eight years old and you see
your sister strangled by her husband,
00:34:55.468 --> 00:34:57.015
who's now dead, thank God,
00:34:57.554 --> 00:35:00.774
you know, all you wanna do
is make women look stronger.
00:35:01.683 --> 00:35:04.436
You might not like the honesty
he was presenting you with,
00:35:04.561 --> 00:35:07.235
you might find it distasteful,
shocking or aggressive
00:35:07.564 --> 00:35:11.239
or misogynistic,
but for him it was his truth.
00:35:11.943 --> 00:35:14.241
Those garments all tell you about Lee
00:35:14.404 --> 00:35:16.202
and they're almost like confessional.
00:35:16.573 --> 00:35:19.577
They do relate to things
that happened in his childhood.
00:35:21.494 --> 00:35:24.589
We were just in our flat. It was
literally in the middle of the evening.
00:35:24.664 --> 00:35:27.008
And he said,
"Oh, by the way, I was abused
00:35:27.375 --> 00:35:29.594
"when I was a child
by my brother-in-law. "
00:35:29.794 --> 00:35:33.344
It just came out
and he started crying
00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:35.763
and then we started talking
00:35:36.176 --> 00:35:38.770
and then, almost as soon
as he started telling me all that,
00:35:39.012 --> 00:35:41.515
he said, "Anyway, t don't want
to talk about that any more."
00:35:41.723 --> 00:35:44.442
The stuff that he saw,
I mean, the violence against my mum,
00:35:44.643 --> 00:35:48.864
the abuse he suffered by my dad
and the abuse my mum suffered by Dad...
00:35:49.147 --> 00:35:52.492
They had that affinity together.
They shared that, Lee and my mum.
00:35:53.068 --> 00:35:56.322
They were both affected
by the same person.
00:35:57.739 --> 00:36:01.164
And they had that connection
through that, you know.
00:36:01.368 --> 00:36:04.542
And Lee saw my mum
very much like a mother figure
00:36:05.205 --> 00:36:08.880
and somebody
that he wanted to protect,
00:36:09.167 --> 00:36:11.340
but my mum wanted to protect him
as well.
00:36:12.796 --> 00:36:16.801
I had quite a big burden
on my shoulders.
00:36:17.509 --> 00:36:18.977
Erm...
00:36:20.637 --> 00:36:23.561
But I'd always felt close to Lee
00:36:24.099 --> 00:36:25.146
and...
00:36:27.227 --> 00:36:32.984
In the early years, Lee had seen
things like domestic violence and,
00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:40.332
at the time, it must have also had
an effect on his mind.
00:36:41.574 --> 00:36:43.372
And that stuff he had to get out,
00:36:43.618 --> 00:36:45.495
I think it was a way
of exercising his demons,
00:36:45.662 --> 00:36:50.133
a way of protecting women and himself
by creating these strong women
00:36:50.417 --> 00:36:52.215
who looked like they had armour on.
00:36:52.377 --> 00:36:54.471
It was armour for his heart as well,
you know, so...
00:36:56.965 --> 00:36:58.717
The relationship
between me and Lee,
00:36:59.008 --> 00:37:00.726
I joke that it was four seasons long,
00:37:01.177 --> 00:37:04.397
purely because I think those collections
and those shows became markers
00:37:04.472 --> 00:37:10.104
in terms of how our work life
was also tied up with our relationship.
00:37:10.520 --> 00:37:11.817
And, looking back on it now,
00:37:11.980 --> 00:37:13.857
I can see the reasons
why it would be...
00:37:13.982 --> 00:37:15.825
How could a relationship work
00:37:16.484 --> 00:37:19.658
with all the things
that were going on in his life,
00:37:19.863 --> 00:37:21.865
all the things in his past?
00:37:22.115 --> 00:37:25.790
I can't think of any relationship
that would be able to deal with that.
00:37:51.728 --> 00:37:55.699
When you went to St Martins,
in the first year you'd go to Paris
00:37:55.940 --> 00:37:59.319
and the idea is that you're meant
to go to exhibitions.
00:37:59.819 --> 00:38:01.537
But we would just spend all of our time
00:38:01.738 --> 00:38:04.207
wangling our way
into the various shows.
00:38:04.407 --> 00:38:06.034
So we went to this show and it was...
00:38:06.242 --> 00:38:09.746
It was all very floral
and there was chiffon and Lee was going,
00:38:09.954 --> 00:38:12.207
"Well, that's rubbish.
That's rubbish. Oh, my God.
00:38:12.457 --> 00:38:14.835
"This is just the worst show ever.
Bloody hell.
00:38:15.043 --> 00:38:16.966
"Givenchy, that's a load of crap!
00:38:17.170 --> 00:38:18.797
"That's for, like, old ladies.
00:38:19.130 --> 00:38:22.851
"I never, ever want to work
somewhere like that."
00:38:34.479 --> 00:38:37.278
It was a really exciting time
to be covering the industry
00:38:37.482 --> 00:38:39.450
because it was changing,
it was evolving.
00:38:39.651 --> 00:38:42.871
People like Bernard Arnault
were buying up small family brands
00:38:43.238 --> 00:38:45.491
and then turning them
into global corporations.
00:38:45.657 --> 00:38:47.785
And first he brought in John Galliano
00:38:47.909 --> 00:38:50.332
and, after two years,
moved John over to Dior
00:38:50.453 --> 00:38:52.876
and then needed another
new, young, hot flavour
00:38:53.122 --> 00:38:54.624
for Givenchy.
00:38:54.707 --> 00:38:56.755
And so he said...
Why did he want you?
00:38:56.918 --> 00:39:00.047
He said when I was hired
that I was his horse.
00:39:01.047 --> 00:39:03.141
I don't know if that's in looks
or what, but...
00:39:04.509 --> 00:39:06.728
But he said I was his horse
he betted on.
00:39:07.095 --> 00:39:10.440
I was living with Lee
when Givenchy called
00:39:10.515 --> 00:39:14.110
and he thought that they wanted him
to design a handbag.
00:39:14.227 --> 00:39:15.945
And I'm like "Wow. WOW!"
00:39:16.688 --> 00:39:18.406
"Cool man!" You know?
00:39:18.565 --> 00:39:21.159
Next thing I know
00:39:21.359 --> 00:39:24.033
he comes in
and he basically says
00:39:24.195 --> 00:39:27.244
they've asked him to be
creative director of Givenchy.
00:39:27.407 --> 00:39:30.035
And I was like, "You are kidding me!"
00:39:30.285 --> 00:39:34.131
He called me at work and then he said,
"They've offered me this job.
00:39:34.330 --> 00:39:36.458
"If I move to Paris,
will you come with me?"
00:39:36.541 --> 00:39:37.963
I was like, "Yeah, of course."
00:39:38.126 --> 00:39:42.222
It was sort of exciting
and also quite scary as well
00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:45.259
because it was still that honeymoon
period of our relationship.
00:39:45.842 --> 00:39:49.437
Why did you go to Givenchy,
having already created your own name,
00:39:49.512 --> 00:39:52.857
having won British Designer of the Year
twice in a row?
00:39:53.349 --> 00:39:55.317
For one reason,
the money was good.
00:39:55.894 --> 00:39:58.022
But what do I do
with the money from Givenchy?
00:39:58.313 --> 00:40:01.533
I put it straight back into McQueen.
It helps me employ people for McQueen
00:40:01.608 --> 00:40:03.110
to build my own company up.
00:40:04.235 --> 00:40:07.205
Very talented people
that he brought with him to Givenchy.
00:40:07.322 --> 00:40:08.369
What a team!
00:40:08.656 --> 00:40:11.535
He told me,
"I will need a team to work with me
00:40:11.784 --> 00:40:14.003
"so I was thinking of you.
00:40:14.329 --> 00:40:17.208
"So, think about it
and let me know."
00:40:17.498 --> 00:40:20.001
There's nothing to think about.
Of course, I'll take the job.
00:40:21.711 --> 00:40:24.715
We took an aeroplane
from City Airport.
00:40:25.423 --> 00:40:29.428
We were the weirdest people
in the plane. It was all businessmen.
00:40:29.636 --> 00:40:32.230
And we were there
with our bleached jeans,
00:40:32.931 --> 00:40:34.478
with a lot of attitude.
00:40:35.308 --> 00:40:37.310
Where did you find this?
In Japan.
00:40:39.354 --> 00:40:41.027
Really?
Yeah.
00:40:44.692 --> 00:40:46.535
Oh, oh!
00:40:48.988 --> 00:40:51.707
There was huge excitement.
Cos imagine being that age
00:40:51.950 --> 00:40:54.453
and you're being given
that amount of, one, responsibility
00:40:54.869 --> 00:40:56.212
and also that amount of money.
00:40:57.705 --> 00:40:58.797
Statue!
00:41:00.333 --> 00:41:01.710
There's Sebastién Pons.
00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:03.553
Hello, Sebastién!
00:41:04.170 --> 00:41:05.763
- Sweaty armpits.
- Come on!
00:41:05.964 --> 00:41:07.261
God, you've got wet patches.
00:41:07.715 --> 00:41:10.969
I think that in the McQueen studio
I was a little bit like the bouffant
00:41:11.177 --> 00:41:12.554
because I was
the funny one there.
00:41:12.637 --> 00:41:14.935
They were taking the piss
out of my accent.
00:41:15.264 --> 00:41:17.733
A Spanish bouffant in a British court.
00:41:19.227 --> 00:41:20.479
Simon Costin.
00:41:20.687 --> 00:41:22.689
God, you're looking
fairly gross today.
00:41:23.690 --> 00:41:27.365
I saw myself as the person
that put things into context.
00:41:27.527 --> 00:41:29.905
The set was always there to reflect
00:41:30.196 --> 00:41:33.325
the sort of untold story
of the collection.
00:41:34.200 --> 00:41:36.669
There was Katy, of course,
Katy England.
00:41:36.828 --> 00:41:39.456
Katy's the most important part
of McQueen.
00:41:40.373 --> 00:41:41.875
Camera up, please.
00:41:42.208 --> 00:41:44.210
She's the Tweedledee
to my Tweedledum.
00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:46.337
She fuels my imagination.
00:41:47.171 --> 00:41:49.299
I help research the collection.
00:41:49.799 --> 00:41:53.679
I, erm, bring things to his attention
00:41:53.970 --> 00:41:56.098
that I think might be
important in fashion.
00:41:56.389 --> 00:41:59.268
Basically, I'm always there
at the right-hand side.
00:41:59.642 --> 00:42:02.862
Shaun Leane was very much involved
in the business, making jewellery.
00:42:03.312 --> 00:42:04.438
What do you think, eh?
00:42:05.064 --> 00:42:06.236
Fancy a dance?
00:42:06.482 --> 00:42:09.076
For me to do work Hke this
is very good for me.
00:42:09.318 --> 00:42:11.366
It allows me to go
from one extreme to the other.
00:42:11.529 --> 00:42:14.783
And now I'm going into different areas.
I'm working with body jewellery
00:42:15.241 --> 00:42:18.120
and it's really going
into a form of sculpture.
00:42:19.078 --> 00:42:20.421
Sarah Burton.
00:42:20.621 --> 00:42:22.168
Sarah was the intern.
00:42:22.331 --> 00:42:23.958
He looked at us
00:42:24.083 --> 00:42:26.177
like the sort of pillars
00:42:26.544 --> 00:42:28.797
that would make him feel secure.
00:42:30.631 --> 00:42:32.508
We had this really nice flat.
00:42:37.680 --> 00:42:40.729
I loved the area. I mean...
Place des Vosges. I mean, hello?
00:42:42.477 --> 00:42:44.320
Oh, God, that's pretty scary.
00:42:45.438 --> 00:42:47.406
Thinking about it now,
it was tiny.
00:42:47.940 --> 00:42:50.159
When I would come over
to start working on the set,
00:42:50.401 --> 00:42:51.778
I'd be on the sofa.
00:42:55.573 --> 00:42:57.200
Ooh, ooh!
00:42:57.867 --> 00:42:59.665
Sebastién!
00:43:00.078 --> 00:43:01.671
Oh, language!
00:43:03.498 --> 00:43:06.172
I always ended up
sleeping in Lee's room
00:43:06.626 --> 00:43:09.630
because Lee was always
collapsing on the sofa.
00:43:09.921 --> 00:43:10.968
Lee!
00:43:12.632 --> 00:43:15.135
- You changed the pillows.
- Yeah, fucking right.
00:43:18.221 --> 00:43:20.724
We had a driver
so we got driven everywhere.
00:43:20.848 --> 00:43:22.850
Oh, wait a minute,
he's gone blurry.
00:43:23.309 --> 00:43:24.481
That's better.
00:43:24.644 --> 00:43:26.112
Say hello to the people
of England.
00:43:28.773 --> 00:43:29.945
Such fun.
00:43:31.275 --> 00:43:33.448
We can do
some funny tricks.
00:43:34.278 --> 00:43:36.531
Hello, I'm on speed, baby.
00:43:40.660 --> 00:43:42.458
When we arrived at Givenchy,
00:43:42.787 --> 00:43:44.539
everybody was kind of like
00:43:44.747 --> 00:43:47.500
bending their head to him
00:43:47.917 --> 00:43:49.919
and calling him
Monsieur McQueen,
00:43:50.294 --> 00:43:53.969
which was like, "They're calling you
Monsieur McQueen? Here?"
00:43:57.718 --> 00:43:59.516
Cath! Woo-ooh!
00:44:01.222 --> 00:44:03.475
When we arrived
I think they were in shock.
00:44:03.599 --> 00:44:06.102
The way we dress,
the way we work
00:44:06.269 --> 00:44:08.613
and the jokes we made.
00:44:09.188 --> 00:44:11.532
Obviously it was very grand,
with chandeliers,
00:44:11.858 --> 00:44:14.577
so it was very different
from the working environment in London
00:44:14.819 --> 00:44:18.073
which was a very, very small room,
chaotic, with stuff everywhere.
00:44:18.489 --> 00:44:20.287
Here I have my own office.
00:44:20.449 --> 00:44:22.952
I pick up the phone
and I get what I want.
00:44:23.661 --> 00:44:25.834
Cos I want it,
I want it, I want it!
00:44:26.164 --> 00:44:27.416
So I ask for it.
00:44:27.707 --> 00:44:31.177
We was just like a bunch
of young kids running about in Givenchy.
00:44:32.336 --> 00:44:34.384
Were they surprised
you were chosen?
00:44:34.839 --> 00:44:38.935
Well, I think that it put most people
in a coma when I got chosen!
00:44:41.345 --> 00:44:43.063
All of a sudden,
we're there,
00:44:43.222 --> 00:44:46.066
sitting in Hubert de Givenchy's house,
00:44:46.309 --> 00:44:49.939
looking out the window
and you see the Balenciaga sign
00:44:50.062 --> 00:44:52.064
and you knew
that Yves Saint Laurent was there
00:44:52.231 --> 00:44:54.575
and knowing that John Galliano was there
00:44:54.734 --> 00:44:57.328
at Avenue Montaigne,
just a few yards from there.
00:44:57.653 --> 00:45:00.281
And there we are
with Alexander McQueen,
00:45:00.406 --> 00:45:02.659
being the new talk of the town.
00:45:02.992 --> 00:45:05.165
And I felt special.
00:45:06.495 --> 00:45:08.372
He was trying
to find his feet there.
00:45:08.539 --> 00:45:10.462
He obviously had to make
a huge impression
00:45:10.625 --> 00:45:12.502
because it was his first collection.
00:45:13.502 --> 00:45:15.129
I remember telling Lee,
00:45:15.213 --> 00:45:17.511
"Everybodys looking at us
and we have nothing."
00:45:17.590 --> 00:45:19.092
And he always would answer,
00:45:19.300 --> 00:45:21.018
"Don't worry, Sebastién,
we'll get it done."
00:45:37.151 --> 00:45:40.997
This is Paris and Paris chic.
This is Givenchy, this is not McQueen.
00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:44.910
This is where elegant suits are made
and fantastic fabrics are used.
00:45:45.159 --> 00:45:47.878
I mean, it's going to take
my own label, McQueen,
00:45:48.037 --> 00:45:50.631
another 40 years
to get the reputation this one has.
00:45:51.207 --> 00:45:54.461
I remember once
we saw this beautiful work.
00:45:54.710 --> 00:45:58.681
Lee asked Catherine DeLondres,
who was in charge of the atelier,
00:45:59.090 --> 00:46:01.218
"Who's done this fabulous work?"
00:46:01.425 --> 00:46:03.302
"She's not allowed to come in."
00:46:03.511 --> 00:46:05.639
He's like, "What do you mean,
she's not allowed in?
00:46:05.763 --> 00:46:06.810
"Please let her in."
00:46:07.390 --> 00:46:11.691
I remember from that day on
Lee wanted to see the person
00:46:12.395 --> 00:46:14.693
who has worked directly
with the garment.
00:46:15.898 --> 00:46:17.946
And I think they loved that.
00:46:18.401 --> 00:46:20.244
This is the Bet Lynch dress.
00:46:21.821 --> 00:46:24.950
And we also treated it,
bonding plastic over the top
00:46:25.866 --> 00:46:29.086
for raincoats
so you get the whole ensemble.
00:46:29.412 --> 00:46:31.005
None of us spoke French
00:46:31.122 --> 00:46:34.217
and the French atelier
didn't speak English.
00:46:34.542 --> 00:46:37.762
Lee would actually draw in the air
how it would have to be.
00:46:38.296 --> 00:46:41.721
Yeah. Yeah, it's OK.
00:46:44.385 --> 00:46:47.355
Oh, it's OK.
I thought it was just pantalon.
00:47:09.869 --> 00:47:13.669
They're quite precise and like...
They, like, take the threads out and...
00:47:13.998 --> 00:47:16.092
I just get the scissors
and go, "Whack it off!"
00:47:16.584 --> 00:47:18.427
And they go...
Like that.
00:47:19.962 --> 00:47:21.714
And I go, "It's OK, it's only clothes."
00:47:22.006 --> 00:47:24.429
I'll never forget
the expression on her face.
00:47:24.508 --> 00:47:27.637
But in the end she saw
exactly what he was doing.
00:47:27.762 --> 00:47:28.809
She was in awe.
00:47:28.971 --> 00:47:33.021
A very mutual, you know, respect
grew between the two of them.
00:47:33.225 --> 00:47:36.399
Haute couture is about
the atelier. I come from Savile Row.
00:47:36.687 --> 00:47:38.655
So I have great respect for the tailors.
00:47:38.731 --> 00:47:41.154
They deserve just as much praise
as I do.
00:47:42.485 --> 00:47:45.284
Lee, one day he said,
"Where can we go and eat'?
00:47:45.488 --> 00:47:47.115
"Where do the workers eat?"
00:47:47.323 --> 00:47:49.542
And then Catherine said,
"There is a canteen
00:47:49.825 --> 00:47:51.702
"in the basement for the workers."
00:47:51.827 --> 00:47:53.704
And Lee was like, "So let's go there."
00:47:53.871 --> 00:47:57.592
When we went down there,
the people, they're flipping out.
00:47:57.792 --> 00:47:59.920
"Alexander is eating with us!"
00:48:00.836 --> 00:48:02.304
They couldn't believe it.
00:48:02.421 --> 00:48:06.676
These fashion houses, they treat
the designer like he's a king.
00:48:07.009 --> 00:48:09.057
And they treated Lee
like a king,
00:48:09.303 --> 00:48:11.226
but Lee didn't want
to behave like a king,
00:48:11.305 --> 00:48:13.683
Lee wanted to behave
like a regular person.
00:48:17.895 --> 00:48:19.363
OK.
00:48:19.814 --> 00:48:21.157
The ideas for the show,
00:48:21.482 --> 00:48:24.110
they grew out of the collection
as the collection developed.
00:48:24.652 --> 00:48:27.326
He would pull threads
and stories out of that.
00:48:28.072 --> 00:48:31.167
And there was always mood boards
and things pinned all over the walls.
00:48:31.325 --> 00:48:34.044
Everyone fed in.
it was a very group practice.
00:48:34.286 --> 00:48:36.960
But Lee was the spider
in the centre of the web, as it were,
00:48:37.206 --> 00:48:39.459
pulling everything together
and distilling
00:48:39.667 --> 00:48:41.510
what it was that he had in his head.
00:48:41.752 --> 00:48:44.301
I remember the fraughtness
about a week before the show
00:48:44.672 --> 00:48:48.051
with things coming down and not right
and things having to be changed.
00:48:48.300 --> 00:48:50.519
It was really insanely crazy.
00:48:50.636 --> 00:48:52.354
The pressure was super intense.
00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:13.542
In 25 days
to put a 55-outfit collection together
00:49:13.826 --> 00:49:15.328
is not an easy task.
00:49:18.330 --> 00:49:22.301
The first couture show
had the theme of the Golden Fleece,
00:49:22.501 --> 00:49:23.753
Jason and the Argonauts.
00:49:25.296 --> 00:49:27.014
They wanted it to be amazing.
00:49:28.507 --> 00:49:31.727
My first feeling
from Alex's description was,
00:49:32.094 --> 00:49:35.018
they had to be warriors
00:49:35.347 --> 00:49:37.395
mixed with goddesses.
00:49:37.683 --> 00:49:40.357
I said, "We do horns?"
He said, "Yeah, but do big."
00:49:40.644 --> 00:49:43.488
I said, "But how big?"
He said, "You know Genghis Khan?
00:49:43.647 --> 00:49:45.149
"He's the junior size.
00:49:45.357 --> 00:49:46.404
"Give me the senior."
00:49:46.692 --> 00:49:49.445
It's the 19th of January 1997
00:49:49.778 --> 00:49:53.282
and, as they say in the trade,
we're about to witness a fashion moment.
00:49:53.407 --> 00:49:55.375
At the tender age of 27,
00:49:55.451 --> 00:49:58.000
British Designer of the Year
Alexander McQueen
00:49:58.204 --> 00:50:01.333
is about to show
his first haute couture collection.
00:50:15.554 --> 00:50:17.898
Every model had
to have a character,
00:50:18.098 --> 00:50:20.442
an identity, a signature.
00:50:20.976 --> 00:50:23.946
Every single girl could have been
a show on her own.
00:50:25.314 --> 00:50:28.363
Where did the inspiration
come from? He told me, "From the logo."
00:50:28.859 --> 00:50:33.330
The logo is the Gs,
which looks like a Greek motif,
00:50:33.948 --> 00:50:36.497
and the Givenchy label
is white and gold.
00:50:37.952 --> 00:50:41.456
Always with Lee's collections,
there were some pieces where you'd go,
00:50:41.830 --> 00:50:44.253
"God, that's rather risqué."
00:50:45.209 --> 00:50:48.258
I think a tot of the press
focused on the ones
00:50:48.462 --> 00:50:52.433
that were a little bit more crazy
or a little bit, you know, unwearable.
00:50:53.551 --> 00:50:55.724
French designers
were complaining and saying,
00:50:55.970 --> 00:50:59.645
"Oh, they're not even French
and they're taking over Givenchy.
00:50:59.807 --> 00:51:01.559
"Look what he's doing to Givenchy."
00:51:01.850 --> 00:51:03.568
I think it was them saying,
00:51:04.144 --> 00:51:05.737
"I'm still gonna be who I am,
00:51:05.813 --> 00:51:07.861
"regardless that you put me
in this posh space.
00:51:08.190 --> 00:51:09.692
"I'm still who I am."
00:51:10.192 --> 00:51:12.695
I liked that, that they stayed true
to who they were.
00:51:13.028 --> 00:51:16.953
They actually brought England into Paris
in their own unique way.
00:51:20.077 --> 00:51:22.330
People were talking,
fashion editors.
00:51:22.538 --> 00:51:24.882
"He has a big mouth.
He has a big head.
00:51:25.207 --> 00:51:27.005
"Oh, the British!
What does he think?"
00:51:27.376 --> 00:51:31.802
And then I understood that basically
the world was against him.
00:51:32.381 --> 00:51:34.008
And you do your first show.
00:51:34.091 --> 00:51:37.265
It's not a huge success.
No, that's true.
00:51:37.386 --> 00:51:39.605
Well done.
00:51:39.805 --> 00:51:43.560
They were wishing
to see him crash and be destroyed.
00:51:44.101 --> 00:51:45.819
They have claws and knives
00:51:46.020 --> 00:51:47.613
and they're throwing everything
into your back,
00:51:47.688 --> 00:51:49.440
which is fine cos I'm a good fighter!
00:51:51.275 --> 00:51:53.198
I remember us afterwards.
00:51:53.402 --> 00:51:54.699
You know, Lee was...
00:51:56.280 --> 00:51:58.078
Oh, hellish, yeah.
00:51:58.324 --> 00:52:01.544
That was a really horrid night.
It was a difficult night after that.
00:52:02.828 --> 00:52:05.297
A few punches and arguments.
00:52:11.629 --> 00:52:13.631
I think he's done a lot
with the house,
00:52:13.756 --> 00:52:15.758
because Givenchy
have had a lot of press.
00:52:15.924 --> 00:52:19.804
It's a more difficult thing to deal with
cos McQueen is McQueen in London.
00:52:20.054 --> 00:52:23.900
Givenchy is taking over
from another man in Paris.
00:52:24.058 --> 00:52:27.232
As Alexander says,"It's like taking
a dinosaur out of the sea."
00:52:27.519 --> 00:52:30.489
And I think in one season
he's done that.
00:52:30.856 --> 00:52:34.702
So I think in a year
he will have done 20 times that.
00:52:35.944 --> 00:52:37.571
Givenchy changed everything.
00:52:37.946 --> 00:52:39.414
The fun times were over.
00:52:39.865 --> 00:52:41.583
I had an accountant who spoke French.
00:52:41.784 --> 00:52:43.661
They were going to Paris
to sign the deal.
00:52:43.869 --> 00:52:46.918
And I said, "Please, make sure
Issie gets something out of it."
00:52:47.122 --> 00:52:48.544
And then I kind of did ask McQueen
00:52:48.707 --> 00:52:50.755
and he said,
"Issie and I are not about money."
00:52:51.168 --> 00:52:54.593
When the money did come
and Alexander cut her out...
00:52:55.339 --> 00:52:56.511
That was very tough.
00:52:57.007 --> 00:52:59.806
Their friendship changed.
She was so hurt at this rejection.
00:53:00.135 --> 00:53:03.309
She'd have created a buzz.
She'd have had a salon at Givenchy.
00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:06.358
She'd have made it
the most happening place in Paris.
00:53:09.186 --> 00:53:14.864
I do remember going to Hilles
straight after the takeover at Givenchy.
00:53:16.652 --> 00:53:21.203
You cannot imagine the tension
between the two of them in this room.
00:53:21.699 --> 00:53:24.794
These designers think
that you made me.
00:53:25.703 --> 00:53:28.331
- And it's never been about that.
- No, they don't.
00:53:28.580 --> 00:53:30.708
- I know that that's...
- But they do!
00:53:30.791 --> 00:53:34.671
You see it all the time in the press!
They say, "Oh, Isabella Blow,
00:53:34.837 --> 00:53:37.590
"responsible for Philip Treacy
and Alexander McQueen."
00:53:37.881 --> 00:53:40.009
- No, they say...
- They do just say that!
00:53:40.676 --> 00:53:43.429
But it's never been
about that for me and you.
00:53:43.554 --> 00:53:45.022
Whether I was part of it?
00:53:45.180 --> 00:53:46.898
Does that annoy you
that they put a strap on it?
00:53:46.974 --> 00:53:49.568
"As discovered by Isabella Blow."
Does it piss you off?
00:53:49.727 --> 00:53:52.697
No, not at all, because Issie
has helped me a lot in that way,
00:53:52.855 --> 00:53:54.698
but not in the way that she's like...
00:53:55.149 --> 00:53:57.151
She does it
because she loves my clothes,
00:53:57.234 --> 00:53:58.531
not because she loves me.
00:53:58.694 --> 00:54:01.072
Exactly. That's the point.
00:54:01.280 --> 00:54:03.032
Because I can't stand her guts!
00:54:04.783 --> 00:54:06.160
I'm joking.
00:54:06.702 --> 00:54:10.377
I do remember sitting there,
thinking to myself,
00:54:10.664 --> 00:54:14.259
"Please, lay off Issie
because she's done nothing but help you,
00:54:14.543 --> 00:54:17.296
"but you seem to be giving her
a really difficult time."
00:54:17.671 --> 00:54:19.173
Issie kingmaker.
00:54:19.423 --> 00:54:22.267
This is the man she championed
and then he resented that
00:54:22.384 --> 00:54:23.727
and wanted to be his own man
00:54:24.011 --> 00:54:26.890
so there was no position
for Isabella Blow at Givenchy.
00:54:27.931 --> 00:54:28.978
Punishment.
00:54:29.850 --> 00:54:32.399
And I remember
McQueen turned to me and said,
00:54:32.478 --> 00:54:34.321
"I'm the tycoon now, Detmar."
00:54:34.938 --> 00:54:36.611
And it wasn't meant affectionately.
00:54:36.940 --> 00:54:39.693
We had a policy. Don't show hurt,
don't show weakness.
00:54:39.985 --> 00:54:42.534
Keep your head up,
keep proud, keep fighting.
00:54:42.946 --> 00:54:44.914
Something will turn up. It's got to.
00:54:45.115 --> 00:54:48.164
His star ascended
and hers didn't as much
00:54:48.368 --> 00:54:50.871
and, you know,
he slightly abandoned her.
00:54:51.497 --> 00:54:54.341
Then Issie suddenly got
this job at The Sunday Times
00:54:54.500 --> 00:54:57.549
and McQueen said,
"You've been resurrected, Issie. "
00:54:57.711 --> 00:55:00.009
And I thought, "No thanks to you, mate."
00:55:02.633 --> 00:55:06.263
I saw myself within the press
and in the public eye as the gazelle.
00:55:06.970 --> 00:55:08.643
And the gazelle always got eaten.
00:55:09.473 --> 00:55:12.852
And that's how I see human life.
We can all be discarded quite easily.
00:55:13.185 --> 00:55:16.860
The fragility of a designer's time
in the press.
00:55:17.314 --> 00:55:18.907
You're there, you're gone.
00:55:20.734 --> 00:55:21.951
It's a jungle out there.
00:55:22.945 --> 00:55:25.198
I went to his London studio
00:55:25.447 --> 00:55:27.666
and he was talking
about a haute couture show.
00:55:28.033 --> 00:55:31.037
"I tried to please them
and then I fucked it up.
00:55:31.203 --> 00:55:32.750
"I'm gonna do my own thing.
00:55:32.996 --> 00:55:35.215
"It's gonna be very McQueen,
the next one.
00:55:35.457 --> 00:55:39.587
"Fuck you! Fuck you, all of you.
I'm gonna show you."
00:55:39.878 --> 00:55:43.303
We went from this sort of...
The hallowed halls of Givenchy
00:55:43.841 --> 00:55:46.344
into the sort of rough,
gritty Borough Market,
00:55:46.510 --> 00:55:48.933
people just sweeping
all the rotting fruit and veg up.
00:55:49.096 --> 00:55:51.599
It's nice to show them
the rough pan' of London,
00:55:51.765 --> 00:55:54.609
make them a bit scared, look over
their shoulder once in a while.
00:55:54.768 --> 00:55:56.315
It's nothing to do
with couture.
00:55:56.436 --> 00:55:57.813
Now you've got your own studio.
00:55:57.855 --> 00:56:01.450
We're in another chapter,
in another world, in another McQueen.
00:56:01.650 --> 00:56:04.324
All camera crews
go round the front gate.
00:56:04.444 --> 00:56:06.117
The London shows were always...
00:56:06.321 --> 00:56:08.323
The audience,
the expectation, was so great.
00:56:08.490 --> 00:56:12.336
The shows in Paris
were far more formal and reserved.
00:56:12.536 --> 00:56:14.630
People would scream
their heads off in London.
00:56:17.499 --> 00:56:22.471
It was crazy, people literally
fighting to see the catwalk.
00:56:23.714 --> 00:56:25.842
Lee just running
from model to model
00:56:26.008 --> 00:56:27.931
and screaming and shouting at everyone.
00:56:28.093 --> 00:56:30.846
Simon, we want to start
the show!
00:56:31.305 --> 00:56:34.559
And just always moving,
always dressing, always stressing.
00:56:35.017 --> 00:56:37.691
Stressing and dressing,
actually, together.
00:56:38.145 --> 00:56:40.022
Are we all standing by,
ready to go?
00:56:40.147 --> 00:56:41.319
OK.
00:56:41.481 --> 00:56:43.859
Where's Russell?
Is he out there? Is he getting ready?
00:56:44.151 --> 00:56:45.323
Yeah.
00:56:45.903 --> 00:56:47.621
One of the models was late.
00:56:47.696 --> 00:56:50.415
He said, "Fuck her"
and he started the show.
00:56:50.699 --> 00:56:53.373
He'd just go,
"Right, Jodes, just go for it. "
00:56:53.660 --> 00:56:54.832
He used to psyche me up.
00:56:54.953 --> 00:56:57.297
I used to literally get out
onto the catwalk and go...
00:57:06.089 --> 00:57:07.682
It was really the first time
00:57:07.841 --> 00:57:11.687
the collection kind of seeped out
into everything,
00:57:11.887 --> 00:57:15.983
from the energy that was in that space
to the effect it had on people.
00:57:17.225 --> 00:57:20.695
A sort of angst, an anger and fear,
00:57:20.938 --> 00:57:22.986
that was woven through that show.
00:57:24.149 --> 00:57:25.651
We were mind-blown
00:57:25.776 --> 00:57:28.950
because they didn't look like models.
00:57:29.154 --> 00:57:32.328
They look like animals
with this big hair
00:57:32.574 --> 00:57:34.451
and this animal make-up.
00:57:34.826 --> 00:57:35.873
It was like...
00:57:36.453 --> 00:57:38.080
It was intense.
00:57:40.624 --> 00:57:42.501
Some students
that weren't allowed in
00:57:42.834 --> 00:57:46.259
stormed the barricades
and kicked over a“ these fire pots.
00:57:47.005 --> 00:57:49.007
And then
the fire started.
00:57:49.633 --> 00:57:51.476
Cos there were a pile
of crashed cars
00:57:51.843 --> 00:57:55.063
and I don't think
we'd emptied the cars of petrol.
00:57:55.347 --> 00:57:57.065
The car's actually on fire.
00:57:57.683 --> 00:58:00.653
There's a fricking car on fire
on the catwalk.
00:58:00.936 --> 00:58:03.155
And everyone thought
it was part of the show.
00:58:03.522 --> 00:58:06.901
"Don't you...dare go out there
with fire extinguishers.
00:58:07.067 --> 00:58:09.866
"Just keep sending them out.
Keep sending them out."
00:58:11.571 --> 00:58:15.166
Had that not been rectified,
that whole tent
00:58:15.659 --> 00:58:19.835
and all the top fashion editors
and models would have been history.
00:58:21.123 --> 00:58:27.096
That's just back to typical,
wonderful, mad, brilliant Lee.
00:58:53.113 --> 00:58:55.992
Did you move out of London
and settle in Paris?
00:58:56.450 --> 00:58:59.579
I stay in both. I'm here for six months
and in London six months. All over.
00:59:00.245 --> 00:59:03.715
My dog is in London and I'm missing him.
I'm missing my dog.
00:59:11.548 --> 00:59:15.348
TraveHing between the two cities
to do Givenchy and McQueen,
00:59:15.469 --> 00:59:17.767
of course it would take its toll.
00:59:18.972 --> 00:59:20.269
But he did it.
00:59:20.515 --> 00:59:22.859
And he managed
to make the shows amazing.
00:59:26.813 --> 00:59:29.692
By that time
there was so much more pressure
00:59:29.900 --> 00:59:32.949
because he was also doing his own line
and then having to do
00:59:33.153 --> 00:59:34.826
ready-to-wear and couture.
00:59:34.946 --> 00:59:37.620
You could see the beginning
of the pressure that Lee was under.
00:59:37.866 --> 00:59:41.291
The favourite company
of LVMH was Dior.
00:59:41.661 --> 00:59:46.007
Lee felt they were really
comparing him with Galliano.
00:59:46.917 --> 00:59:48.965
And then he sort of found out
00:59:49.127 --> 00:59:53.007
that John had
four times more budget than him
00:59:53.340 --> 00:59:55.934
to create his haute couture collection.
00:59:56.718 --> 00:59:59.767
The house we loved
was the McQueen house.
01:00:00.222 --> 01:00:02.941
Givenchy was like a stepbrother.
01:00:03.475 --> 01:00:07.571
We knew that our time there
had an expiry date.
01:00:09.231 --> 01:00:14.112
When we arrived at Paris
Lee's clothes tended to be very rigid
01:00:14.569 --> 01:00:16.367
and I think in Paris
01:00:16.530 --> 01:00:19.283
he got to discover
the soft side of things.
01:00:20.450 --> 01:00:24.000
We took that
and we brought it to London.
01:00:26.123 --> 01:00:29.548
For No. 13, I remember him very happy.
01:00:29.668 --> 01:00:34.174
Lee had it very clear in his head
what he wanted to do.
01:00:35.048 --> 01:00:36.891
We all left the meeting thinking,
01:00:37.008 --> 01:00:38.976
"Oh, my God,
he has it very dear this season."
01:00:39.136 --> 01:00:41.264
"He knows what colours,
he knows the shape..."
01:00:41.429 --> 01:00:44.683
He himself was feeling at peace.
01:00:47.352 --> 01:00:51.232
The first show I ever worked on
with Lee, he liked the idea of robots.
01:00:51.690 --> 01:00:53.408
Lee kept going on about it,
01:00:53.608 --> 01:00:55.531
"Oh, I'm gonna have this robot,
this model. "
01:00:55.861 --> 01:00:59.991
And we were like "Oh, no!
The robots again. Oh, my God."
01:01:02.367 --> 01:01:03.994
We were just hoping
he was gonna forget the idea.
01:01:04.286 --> 01:01:07.881
But then, the night before the show,
the robot did turn up
01:01:08.039 --> 01:01:10.792
and we didn't have a dress
to go with the robot.
01:01:11.084 --> 01:01:12.427
I went back to the studio.
01:01:12.544 --> 01:01:16.048
I was like, "Guys, we need
to make a dress for the finale."
01:01:16.339 --> 01:01:19.843
We went under the table
and pulled all these jewels out
01:01:20.093 --> 01:01:22.562
and he was like,
"Hey, there's the dress."
01:01:30.562 --> 01:01:32.189
They told him it was impossible
01:01:32.272 --> 01:01:34.445
and he said, "No, it's not.
You can do it."
01:01:34.858 --> 01:01:38.328
That's what Lee did for people,
he made them do the impossible.
01:01:39.237 --> 01:01:42.537
We got some technician down
to operate the robots and Lee was,
01:01:42.699 --> 01:01:44.872
"Oh, yeah, let's make the robots
do more of this."
01:01:45.035 --> 01:01:47.208
He's directing these robots
like they're actors
01:01:47.579 --> 01:01:51.709
and, consequently, you end up
with this incredible choreography,
01:01:51.917 --> 01:01:53.260
her spinning.
01:01:54.628 --> 01:01:57.757
You had Shalom Harlow there
and these two robots going round.
01:01:58.006 --> 01:02:01.135
And the thing is, the robots looked
like they had a mind of their own.
01:02:20.654 --> 01:02:24.534
I think that's the first time
that I was blown away by my own show.
01:02:25.367 --> 01:02:28.712
That man and machine thing at the end
was... I'm still in shock, really.
01:02:28.912 --> 01:02:30.914
It's the first time I've cried
at my show, so...
01:02:31.665 --> 01:02:32.712
Yeah.
01:03:03.530 --> 01:03:05.203
Lee was living his dream.
01:03:05.532 --> 01:03:08.536
He would never have given the work up,
as hard as it was,
01:03:08.702 --> 01:03:11.171
because you get that one chance in life.
01:03:13.290 --> 01:03:17.090
The first time I knew that Lee
was actually getting very famous
01:03:17.252 --> 01:03:19.721
was when some stranger
came up to us
01:03:19.879 --> 01:03:21.927
in the supermarket
and asked for his autograph.
01:03:22.215 --> 01:03:25.640
And I remember him saying to me,
"Oh, my God, that's so scary."
01:03:26.177 --> 01:03:29.181
And I realised then
that something was happening.
01:03:29.347 --> 01:03:32.521
He was breaking outside of fashion
and becoming famous.
01:03:34.144 --> 01:03:36.647
That whole celebrity thing,
people chasing after him.
01:03:36.938 --> 01:03:38.360
You got the feeling he was saying,
01:03:38.481 --> 01:03:41.109
"This is not the important thing.
This fame is nonsense.
01:03:41.609 --> 01:03:43.828
"The important thing is what I do."
01:03:44.863 --> 01:03:47.036
I sometimes wish
he'd had a normal life
01:03:47.115 --> 01:03:50.244
and that he could just be
a normal person
01:03:50.869 --> 01:03:54.669
in terms of not having that pressure
of everything at such a young age.
01:03:55.040 --> 01:03:59.136
I knew Lee when he had nothing
but a rubbish bin full of clothes,
01:03:59.294 --> 01:04:03.265
so I saw very quickly
him become a millionaire and more.
01:04:03.673 --> 01:04:07.519
And the more money he had,
he seemed to be more unhappy.
01:04:08.803 --> 01:04:10.396
With the money came drugs.
01:04:11.014 --> 01:04:12.391
And that was the sad thing.
01:04:36.956 --> 01:04:38.333
When did it become bad?
01:04:38.666 --> 01:04:42.045
Well, it became bad when the pressure
became too much for him
01:04:42.212 --> 01:04:45.261
and he obviously started dealing with it
01:04:45.465 --> 01:04:49.220
in ways he shouldn't have,
unfortunately.
01:04:49.677 --> 01:04:51.771
With cocaine
came an aggressiveness,
01:04:52.180 --> 01:04:54.683
that kind of anger,
that sort of paranoia.
01:04:55.475 --> 01:04:57.352
He still made some great clothes,
01:04:57.435 --> 01:04:59.233
but the personality changed.
01:04:59.354 --> 01:05:03.200
All the hard work I do.
I do 10 collections a year.
01:05:03.358 --> 01:05:04.530
And it's hard work.
01:05:04.692 --> 01:05:07.320
I didn't go to Givenchy,
they come to me.
01:05:07.529 --> 01:05:09.782
I got really upset
when people started saying
01:05:10.073 --> 01:05:12.792
I was gonna get fired
when it wasn't true.
01:05:12.992 --> 01:05:14.835
"Sod the lot of you.
I do what I like."
01:05:18.164 --> 01:05:19.757
There was definitely a change
01:05:19.916 --> 01:05:21.884
and definitely a move
in our relationship.
01:05:22.043 --> 01:05:24.216
He had two sides to him.
01:05:24.712 --> 01:05:27.181
He could come
in a super cool mood,
01:05:27.507 --> 01:05:30.977
like, full of laughter and that,
01:05:31.052 --> 01:05:32.725
or it could be
01:05:33.012 --> 01:05:34.685
a devil crossing the door.
01:05:34.973 --> 01:05:37.442
He was obviously
a very troubled person
01:05:38.226 --> 01:05:40.069
and the darkness created
01:05:40.353 --> 01:05:44.358
this amazing creativity
and genius artist.
01:05:48.027 --> 01:05:51.156
T had a tattoo saying McQueen on my arm.
01:05:51.823 --> 01:05:53.700
I got it covered up
and when he found out,
01:05:53.867 --> 01:05:55.790
that was kind of like the end
of everything.
01:05:57.162 --> 01:05:58.505
Lee was a romantic.
01:05:58.872 --> 01:06:01.796
I think that he flirted always
with the idea of love.
01:06:01.875 --> 01:06:04.128
I'm not sure
whether he ever achieved it.
01:06:05.503 --> 01:06:08.382
The big thing in his life
that he was in love with was his work.
01:06:08.673 --> 01:06:11.722
And also he didn't trust anyone.
01:06:12.218 --> 01:06:13.561
He thought,
01:06:13.845 --> 01:06:16.724
"If the boyfriend is not here,
it's because he's with someone else."
01:06:16.890 --> 01:06:19.234
And that made him suffer a lot.
01:06:19.767 --> 01:06:23.192
People forget fashion's
always been about attracting a mate.
01:06:23.313 --> 01:06:25.862
H's about sexuality,
showing a person who you are.
01:06:26.024 --> 01:06:28.493
I'm sorry if you think I'm stupid.
01:06:28.818 --> 01:06:31.697
Even though I'm chubby
and I would like to look smaller.
01:06:32.113 --> 01:06:34.081
I mean, let's be realistic here.
01:06:44.334 --> 01:06:46.177
When he changed his appearance,
01:06:46.377 --> 01:06:48.800
he said, "I changed myself.
it was the wrong thing to do.
01:06:49.005 --> 01:06:51.053
"I lost touch with who I was."
01:06:51.591 --> 01:06:55.016
What was it?
Ten years from Lee, little Lee McQueen,
01:06:55.094 --> 01:06:56.937
satin the corner of my studio
sewing away,
01:06:57.180 --> 01:07:00.684
to this svelte figure
dressed in Comme des Gargons,
01:07:01.017 --> 01:07:03.486
having to become something
he didn't really want to be,
01:07:03.728 --> 01:07:06.698
this son' of persona,
this Alexander McQueen.
01:07:34.551 --> 01:07:36.144
6:00 in the morning.
01:07:37.011 --> 01:07:39.764
Don't! Don't do that to her.
Oh, Simon.
01:07:40.098 --> 01:07:42.226
Oh, my God.
01:07:42.600 --> 01:07:44.728
She's only got a few hours left.
01:07:47.689 --> 01:07:49.282
It wasn't fun any more for me.
01:07:49.649 --> 01:07:51.993
That was the bottom line.
It just wasn't fun any more.
01:07:54.612 --> 01:07:56.706
I don't like the camera much.
01:07:56.823 --> 01:07:58.666
Turn it off now.
01:07:59.033 --> 01:08:01.502
I've never done better work
than my time with Lee.
01:08:01.953 --> 01:08:05.708
There was times that were dark with him
and times that were very bright.
01:08:06.165 --> 01:08:09.510
And we all chose it.
We all chose to be there.
01:08:10.044 --> 01:08:12.513
We all chose to not be there
sometimes as well.
01:08:12.880 --> 01:08:14.723
I collapsed once in Givenchy
01:08:15.008 --> 01:08:18.182
because of the pressure
and the workload.
01:08:18.344 --> 01:08:20.938
We had a price to pay
and it was our health.
01:08:21.639 --> 01:08:24.062
I grew in the company,
of course.
01:08:24.309 --> 01:08:27.108
I wasn't the little boy
that I started there.
01:08:27.478 --> 01:08:30.027
As I grew up, I realised that...
01:08:31.107 --> 01:08:35.613
I was feeling like I was a little bit
claustrophobic of the situation.
01:08:36.154 --> 01:08:38.873
Sebastién!
Oh, Sebastién...
01:08:39.073 --> 01:08:40.700
Come on, you ugly bitch.
01:08:41.993 --> 01:08:43.495
Ooh!
01:08:43.828 --> 01:08:46.832
It was like full devotion
to the McQueen house.
01:08:47.373 --> 01:08:49.341
Looking after his dogs,
01:08:49.876 --> 01:08:52.004
endless hours of working
01:08:52.337 --> 01:08:55.216
and weekends either working
01:08:55.340 --> 01:08:57.058
or socialising with Lee.
01:08:57.383 --> 01:09:00.262
We were going also on holiday together.
01:09:00.637 --> 01:09:03.607
I even know how to fake
his signature, you know.
01:09:04.015 --> 01:09:05.983
I was feeling, like, trapped.
01:09:06.893 --> 01:09:09.146
Even if I loved what I was doing.
01:09:10.355 --> 01:09:13.108
I tried to... To speak with him
01:09:13.441 --> 01:09:15.239
and that didn't end up that well.
01:09:15.610 --> 01:09:17.988
The day I told him I was leaving,
he told me,
01:09:18.237 --> 01:09:20.956
"Well, you'd better think about it
because there is no way back."
01:09:23.368 --> 01:09:26.372
And I left and it was really sad,
you know.
01:09:26.496 --> 01:09:29.249
My leaving, you know, it was...
01:09:29.707 --> 01:09:31.175
No one...
01:09:32.543 --> 01:09:35.797
No one, erm...
No one came to...
01:09:37.256 --> 01:09:40.180
After all the work I've done and...
01:09:48.267 --> 01:09:52.067
Unfortunately,
Lee took things quite to heart
01:09:52.772 --> 01:09:54.695
without maybe thinking about
01:09:54.857 --> 01:09:56.530
what the other person was going through
01:09:56.609 --> 01:09:58.156
or what they needed
01:09:58.361 --> 01:09:59.988
and he would take it very personally
01:10:00.196 --> 01:10:02.915
when someone would leave
or he felt betrayed.
01:10:28.683 --> 01:10:32.733
A lot of people around fashion
do suffer from anxiety,
01:10:32.979 --> 01:10:35.277
do suffer from panic attacks,
depression.
01:10:35.648 --> 01:10:38.492
The industry is feeding this ego.
01:10:38.818 --> 01:10:41.162
And it has a very negative effect.
01:10:42.029 --> 01:10:44.908
For the Voss show
the original concept was a padded cell.
01:10:46.325 --> 01:10:50.705
You start losing who you are
and it becomes a darkness
01:10:50.955 --> 01:10:52.582
and a place that you can't get out of.
01:10:53.541 --> 01:10:55.214
And, of course, Lee being Lee,
01:10:55.418 --> 01:10:57.512
he wasn't happy
with just this one great idea.
01:10:57.754 --> 01:11:00.303
You then had to have another box
in the middle
01:11:00.715 --> 01:11:03.969
as a kind of theatrical climax
to the show.
01:11:04.343 --> 01:11:07.643
When he came and sat down
to explain what it was,
01:11:08.055 --> 01:11:10.558
he wouldn't look me in the eye
and he was saying,
01:11:11.017 --> 01:11:14.362
"Yes, it's about death
and beauty and rebirth."
01:11:14.645 --> 01:11:16.192
"It's gonna be beautiful."
01:11:16.647 --> 01:11:19.366
I really wasn't expecting
to be recreating
01:11:19.442 --> 01:11:22.286
Joel-Peter Witkin's
famous incubus image.
01:11:32.872 --> 01:11:34.340
It's a pretty gruesome image
01:11:34.457 --> 01:11:37.210
and I'm thinking, "Oh, my goodness,
am I gonna do this?"
01:11:37.376 --> 01:11:39.174
And I was like, "All right,
then, I will do it,
01:11:39.253 --> 01:11:41.301
"but I want you to know... "
01:11:41.672 --> 01:11:43.720
Serious face.
"...that I'm doing it for an'. "
01:11:45.218 --> 01:11:47.721
And he looked at me like I was mad
01:11:47.887 --> 01:11:49.639
and then he looked away and he went,
01:11:49.847 --> 01:11:51.975
"I thought we all were, weren't we?"
And he was off.
01:11:52.475 --> 01:11:55.979
The actual set had
that Stanley Kubrick 2001
01:11:56.145 --> 01:11:58.318
meets an insane asylum feel.
01:11:58.439 --> 01:12:01.693
And there was a two-way mirror
so that when the fashion people,
01:12:01.901 --> 01:12:04.905
when the fashion press came in
to wait for the show to start,
01:12:05.029 --> 01:12:07.123
they were ail looking
at themselves in the mirror.
01:12:07.406 --> 01:12:10.080
The music started,
ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum,
01:12:10.326 --> 01:12:13.250
with this heartbeat
that went faster and faster and faster.
01:12:13.704 --> 01:12:16.378
We didn't know what to expect,
what was gonna happen.
01:12:16.541 --> 01:12:18.293
None of the audience knew at all.
01:12:19.252 --> 01:12:23.598
Fashion is a big bubble
and sometimes I feel like popping it.
01:12:32.348 --> 01:12:34.692
When the show starts,
boom, you can see inside.
01:12:34.892 --> 01:12:36.894
But the models
can't see the audience at all.
01:12:37.812 --> 01:12:40.361
it was suddenly a much more
kind of voyeuristic thing.
01:12:41.858 --> 01:12:43.826
The bandages he put
on a“ the model's heads
01:12:43.943 --> 01:12:48.790
so it had that slight feeling of unease
and sickness and a bed/am feel about it.
01:12:53.870 --> 01:12:57.249
There was one time
that I'd just come out of surgery
01:12:57.456 --> 01:12:59.049
and he came to visit me
01:12:59.458 --> 01:13:02.086
and he saw me
and I had bandages everywhere.
01:13:02.253 --> 01:13:06.008
I was all bruised up and he was like,
"Fucking wicked!", as he would do that.
01:13:06.841 --> 01:13:08.764
He absorbed things like a sponge,
01:13:09.135 --> 01:13:10.887
saw the beauty in the ugly,
01:13:11.137 --> 01:13:13.105
as with the bandages on me.
01:13:39.665 --> 01:13:43.420
Life isn't perfect.
We're not a“ perfect size-zero models.
01:13:43.586 --> 01:13:46.430
But there is beauty
within the eye of the beholder.
01:14:00.770 --> 01:14:03.148
For the final image
to be this one
01:14:03.397 --> 01:14:07.618
of a large woman with moths everywhere,
it sounds like a joke, really.
01:14:07.860 --> 01:14:11.034
But I do think there's a sense of humour
going on underneath there as well.
01:14:11.280 --> 01:14:12.998
It's fat birds and moths.
01:14:13.240 --> 01:14:15.618
I mean, isn't thatjust
fashion's worst nightmare?
01:14:20.665 --> 01:14:23.714
Every season
whose collections do I look at?
01:14:23.793 --> 01:14:25.761
Whose collections
am I jealous of in a sense?
01:14:26.128 --> 01:14:29.348
Whose collections do I think
are absolutely amazing?
01:14:31.467 --> 01:14:34.346
Tom was literally God
In the industry.
01:14:34.679 --> 01:14:36.522
I guess, even if Lee was a rebel
01:14:36.764 --> 01:14:39.313
and he was a totally different
kind of person,
01:14:39.684 --> 01:14:42.528
he probably was flattered
and, you know, touched
01:14:42.728 --> 01:14:46.824
by the fact that someone like Tom Ford
noticed him and wanted him.
01:14:47.316 --> 01:14:49.193
Also he was smart enough to know
01:14:49.443 --> 01:14:51.320
that he needed that financial help.
01:15:09.255 --> 01:15:12.384
The wonderful thing
about Lee is he is poet...
01:15:12.675 --> 01:15:14.393
He won't like this either,
but it's true.
01:15:14.510 --> 01:15:18.140
...poet and commerce united,
because he's very practical.
01:15:18.639 --> 01:15:21.392
So he understands you can express
whatever you want on the runway
01:15:21.726 --> 01:15:24.900
but you need something beautiful
on the hanger to sell to a store.
01:15:26.147 --> 01:15:29.276
Gucci Group was smart.
They saw what the potential was.
01:15:29.525 --> 01:15:32.825
And they offered McQueen a deal
he thought he couldn't refuse
01:15:33.195 --> 01:15:35.323
which was, "Here, we'll underwrite
your company
01:15:35.573 --> 01:15:38.076
"and give you 50% of the ownership."
01:15:38.534 --> 01:15:40.002
They had secret meetings
01:15:40.119 --> 01:15:41.837
so none of it would get back to Arnault
01:15:41.954 --> 01:15:43.297
and the LVMH people.
01:15:43.456 --> 01:15:46.255
They had no idea it was coming
until it hit them.
01:15:48.127 --> 01:15:50.255
I was quite adamant
when I talked to Tom
01:15:50.796 --> 01:15:52.844
that this was a one-man band.
01:15:53.382 --> 01:15:56.261
So they leave you alone
to design what you want?
01:15:56.469 --> 01:15:57.561
Hundred percent.
01:15:57.636 --> 01:15:59.604
I was looking
for major investment
01:16:00.014 --> 01:16:03.234
and then Gucci got in touch and...
01:16:05.019 --> 01:16:06.487
The rest is history.
01:16:10.524 --> 01:16:12.197
Au revoir, Givenchy.
01:16:31.712 --> 01:16:33.180
Got ya!
01:16:48.395 --> 01:16:49.521
What are you doing?
01:16:49.814 --> 01:16:53.318
I have an affinity with the sea.
I don't know, maybe cos I'm Pisces.
01:16:54.193 --> 01:16:56.742
And when it rains and it snows
01:16:57.113 --> 01:17:00.208
and you're near the sea
and you can hear the waves...
01:17:01.325 --> 01:17:04.329
H's very melancholic
but it's very romantic.
01:17:06.997 --> 01:17:09.876
Sometimes you need to have a break
01:17:10.793 --> 01:17:12.261
to get away from everything
01:17:12.378 --> 01:17:16.679
and not to think about business
and fashion shows
01:17:17.091 --> 01:17:19.264
and to take time out.
01:17:25.182 --> 01:17:27.059
I have to be surrounded by nature.
01:17:27.852 --> 01:17:29.229
This is older than the house.
01:17:29.562 --> 01:17:33.317
This is over 400 years old.
It's an elm tree.
01:17:33.691 --> 01:17:36.194
And we uplight it at night.
01:17:39.405 --> 01:17:41.373
And, like, it's good inspiration.
01:17:49.081 --> 01:17:51.254
All my friends come here
and, you know,
01:17:51.542 --> 01:17:55.263
we have the fire on
and we watch DVDs and listen to music.
01:17:56.297 --> 01:17:58.766
It's nice and relaxing.
01:18:06.432 --> 01:18:10.903
He would be spending time
with my mum a lot, down the cottage.
01:18:11.562 --> 01:18:14.441
I'm grateful
that we had that time together.
01:18:15.149 --> 01:18:18.653
We'd see more of each other
and we did things together.
01:18:19.987 --> 01:18:22.206
My family keep me grounded.
01:18:22.448 --> 01:18:24.667
Fashion can be
a very superficial business.
01:18:27.328 --> 01:18:30.127
When I started in London
there was nothing like this.
01:18:30.706 --> 01:18:34.381
It's as close as we can get
to haute couture in England.
01:18:34.960 --> 01:18:37.634
All the people here are students
and it's, like, training them up
01:18:38.005 --> 01:18:41.305
and giving them that initial step
into the world of fashion.
01:18:42.968 --> 01:18:44.891
Lee knew
from when I was a little boy
01:18:45.095 --> 01:18:47.723
that I loved to draw
and I was always very artistic.
01:18:48.390 --> 01:18:51.189
A lot of time had passed
and I was working at a rubbish tip
01:18:51.727 --> 01:18:54.981
and Lee had the position
for a textile designer on menswear
01:18:55.272 --> 01:18:57.024
and that's when he took me on.
01:18:57.524 --> 01:18:59.492
Lee was really happy having me there,
01:19:00.027 --> 01:19:02.155
firstly on the creative level,
01:19:02.363 --> 01:19:04.081
but secondly just having
01:19:05.074 --> 01:19:07.372
something that reminded him of his past
01:19:07.618 --> 01:19:09.495
and his childhood.
01:19:11.372 --> 01:19:12.544
Let's have a look.
01:19:13.540 --> 01:19:17.170
There was a period when it
wasn't so good and I had a lot of angst.
01:19:17.378 --> 01:19:20.006
It was kind of hard. There was a lot
of confliction in my head
01:19:20.339 --> 01:19:23.639
with doing a job that I didn't wanna do,
which was Givenchy.
01:19:23.801 --> 01:19:25.849
But I think I've come to a stage where
01:19:26.387 --> 01:19:29.516
I just accept this is my fife,
this is what I was born to do.
01:19:34.019 --> 01:19:35.396
Oh.
01:19:35.688 --> 01:19:37.907
I like you like this.
01:19:39.149 --> 01:19:41.527
He controlled the vibe
wherever he went.
01:19:41.694 --> 01:19:45.324
A lot of the time he was
such a buzz to be around.
01:19:45.447 --> 01:19:47.620
The way I put it,
it was like he was the queen bee
01:19:47.783 --> 01:19:51.538
with the worker bees responding
to the signals from that queen bee.
01:19:51.704 --> 01:19:53.672
And people felt that, you know.
01:19:53.914 --> 01:19:55.882
He had this kind of childish way
01:19:56.250 --> 01:19:58.753
of mucking about
in the studio environment.
01:19:59.044 --> 01:20:02.548
It just made things so fight
and such a nice place to be.
01:20:03.799 --> 01:20:05.893
There was always
something creative happening.
01:20:06.010 --> 01:20:07.762
That's what excited everybody.
01:20:10.222 --> 01:20:13.647
I speak so loudly
in my work itself, you know.
01:20:13.934 --> 01:20:15.732
I think everything I do is personal.
01:20:15.894 --> 01:20:19.489
Even turning Kate Moss into a hologram
is kind of personal. It's ethereal.
01:20:19.732 --> 01:20:23.202
It's a time I'm feeling at one
with the world and heavenly.
01:20:23.485 --> 01:20:25.704
If you want to know me,
just look at my work.
01:20:44.423 --> 01:20:46.221
What does fashion
mean to you?
01:20:47.217 --> 01:20:48.469
My life.
01:20:54.016 --> 01:20:55.484
Issie died proud,
01:20:55.642 --> 01:20:58.111
having achieved beyond her
wildest dreams.
01:20:58.687 --> 01:21:02.032
The fact that Issie went
was a huge blow to so many people,
01:21:02.274 --> 01:21:03.400
including Alexander.
01:21:03.859 --> 01:21:05.031
A huge blow.
01:21:25.464 --> 01:21:29.514
I saw him at Issie's funeral and
I've never seen anyone so devastated.
01:21:30.886 --> 01:21:32.263
I couldn't recognise him.
01:21:32.346 --> 01:21:35.395
He sat right behind me
and I turned round and saw this person
01:21:35.682 --> 01:21:40.438
in a Highland kilt and a hat,
looking very sad.
01:21:40.562 --> 01:21:42.815
I thought, "My God,
it's McQueen, Alexander."
01:21:43.148 --> 01:21:45.822
And the look on his face was haunting.
01:21:46.402 --> 01:21:47.449
I felt...
01:21:47.653 --> 01:21:49.200
I felt for him.
01:21:49.405 --> 01:21:52.249
You could just feel...
You could just see the pain.
01:21:53.158 --> 01:21:54.375
He suffered.
01:21:54.618 --> 01:21:55.665
I could see the love.
01:21:55.869 --> 01:21:57.337
Never deny the love.
01:21:57.496 --> 01:21:59.874
It was such a love affair
between those two.
01:22:03.335 --> 01:22:05.178
Issie seemed to slot in
01:22:05.295 --> 01:22:07.423
between a sister and a mum.
01:22:08.465 --> 01:22:13.312
She was in the middle
and Lee just loved Issie.
01:22:14.763 --> 01:22:17.232
The connection
between Issie and McQueen...
01:22:17.599 --> 01:22:19.317
They both carried sadnesses.
01:22:20.018 --> 01:22:21.611
Alexander had been abused.
01:22:21.728 --> 01:22:25.323
He felt that person
had destroyed his innocence.
01:22:25.691 --> 01:22:28.865
Issie had this very sad instance
when she was about five years old
01:22:29.153 --> 01:22:31.326
when her brother
that she was playing with died.
01:22:31.530 --> 01:22:34.500
Not Issie's fault,
but she always felt responsible for him
01:22:34.783 --> 01:22:36.376
and carried that guilt.
01:22:36.493 --> 01:22:39.372
There was a destructive side
and destructive issues
01:22:39.496 --> 01:22:42.716
which she could never resolve entirely
and they would blow up.
01:22:43.709 --> 01:22:45.552
It became more and more serious.
01:22:46.336 --> 01:22:48.338
I don't take drugs,
but I take medication.
01:22:48.589 --> 01:22:52.184
I mean, sometimes I have to take a pill,
just to keep me calm.
01:22:52.551 --> 01:22:56.226
The pathway
to her self-destruction was clear.
01:22:57.097 --> 01:23:00.727
Issie, perhaps, was thinking
she didn't want to go on forever.
01:23:01.185 --> 01:23:03.233
She couldn't rein vent herself
as an old woman
01:23:03.353 --> 01:23:05.026
cos fashion's all about youth.
01:23:05.355 --> 01:23:08.529
Discovering people is a big thing.
It's like being a mother.
01:23:09.026 --> 01:23:10.994
And the milk's dried up.
01:23:11.862 --> 01:23:13.705
Issie was planning her death.
01:23:14.656 --> 01:23:16.658
So she wanted
to say goodbye to McQueen.
01:23:18.368 --> 01:23:20.746
And she organised a weekend.
01:23:21.163 --> 01:23:24.463
She'd gone to a lot of trouble
with a very lovely menu.
01:23:26.293 --> 01:23:28.170
And Alexander was exhausted
when he turned up
01:23:28.462 --> 01:23:30.089
and just stayed in his room.
01:23:31.882 --> 01:23:34.886
Whatever she needed,
he wasn't able to give it himself.
01:23:35.719 --> 01:23:39.599
But they did see each other, yeah.
There was a farewell between them.
01:23:39.765 --> 01:23:41.642
Big hug and kiss and...
01:23:42.142 --> 01:23:43.940
"See you in the next world."
I don't know.
01:23:44.186 --> 01:23:47.190
The thing is, when you're ill,
you don't know...
01:23:47.523 --> 01:23:48.570
You're very alone.
01:23:48.815 --> 01:23:51.068
Issie had ovarian cancer
at the end.
01:23:51.401 --> 01:23:54.575
If it was terminal, who knows.
She wasn't interested in chemotherapy.
01:23:56.657 --> 01:23:58.159
The last thing Issie said to me,
01:23:58.825 --> 01:24:02.250
"Do you remember, Detmar,
when I was a ray of sunshine?"
01:24:02.329 --> 01:24:04.707
And I said,
"You'll always be a ray of sunshine."
01:24:08.835 --> 01:24:11.338
McQueen is calling his show
"La Dame Bleue."
01:24:11.672 --> 01:24:13.140
He's dedicating this show
01:24:13.257 --> 01:24:17.558
to his late great friend
and mentor, Isabella Blow.
01:24:17.678 --> 01:24:19.897
You could see her
in the clothes.
01:24:20.055 --> 01:24:22.808
You could smell
the perfume of her around.
01:24:22.891 --> 01:24:26.111
And you could see her children,
in a way, backstage,
01:24:26.770 --> 01:24:29.193
Alexander and Philip
going crazy together.
01:24:29.481 --> 01:24:31.529
What bonded them was Issie.
01:24:32.359 --> 01:24:35.659
Isabella single-handedly invented
Alexander and myself
01:24:35.946 --> 01:24:37.323
from nowhere
01:24:37.948 --> 01:24:42.704
with such conviction that...
We will never experience again.
01:24:43.245 --> 01:24:48.126
Her belief in you made you be
the person you are.
01:25:07.728 --> 01:25:11.403
Bomb Once you sat down
and you saw the set and the music,
01:25:12.149 --> 01:25:14.698
you were there and it held you,
01:25:15.068 --> 01:25:18.743
because I kept seeing her in the clothes
that he was putting on the catwalk
01:25:19.072 --> 01:25:21.916
and the hats, of course,
that Philip was designing.
01:25:25.370 --> 01:25:30.297
It was actually creating
some mythical figure
01:25:30.584 --> 01:25:33.758
that was like Issie's presence
at the show.
01:25:41.887 --> 01:25:43.184
So emotional.
01:25:43.722 --> 01:25:45.224
I just couldn't stop crying,
01:25:45.682 --> 01:25:47.400
just bent over double.
01:25:47.476 --> 01:25:48.944
And, erm...
01:25:49.686 --> 01:25:51.484
Grief is grief.
You have to go through it.
01:25:57.569 --> 01:26:01.039
And then to see them come on
and realise how young they were
01:26:01.365 --> 01:26:03.413
and they had lost a great friend
01:26:03.867 --> 01:26:05.869
and how they had loved her.
01:26:12.584 --> 01:26:15.087
I think it had a big effect
on Lee.
01:26:16.296 --> 01:26:18.970
After Issie passed away,
01:26:19.716 --> 01:26:23.596
he was in a really dark place.
01:26:40.529 --> 01:26:43.453
We were watching TV
in the evening
01:26:43.699 --> 01:26:46.293
and Lee McQueen
opened the news that day
01:26:46.451 --> 01:26:48.579
with the Horn of Plenty show.
01:26:50.163 --> 01:26:54.464
And my father was sitting there
and he's like, “Sebastian, come over.
01:26:54.668 --> 01:26:57.512
"I think it's your crazy friend's
fashion on TV."
01:26:58.046 --> 01:27:01.220
And when my father
saw the collection, he was like,
01:27:02.050 --> 01:27:04.553
"I think your friend
has gone really mad."
01:27:07.472 --> 01:27:09.975
And I think with Horn of Plenty
01:27:10.225 --> 01:27:12.694
that really reflects
the fashion world today,
01:27:13.562 --> 01:27:14.688
a pile of crap.
01:27:21.862 --> 01:27:24.365
Three years of being apart,
01:27:24.531 --> 01:27:27.751
I think a lot and I think
he thinks a lot also.
01:27:29.244 --> 01:27:33.090
And when I called him,
it was like, "Hello, Lee?"
01:27:33.540 --> 01:27:35.042
"Hello?"
01:27:35.292 --> 01:27:36.635
"Lee, it's Sebastién."
01:27:36.752 --> 01:27:40.632
"Where the fuck have you been
all this time, you fucking bastard?"
01:27:41.339 --> 01:27:46.891
We just started again like...
Like the brothers we were before.
01:27:48.013 --> 01:27:50.391
So then I took the ferry to Ibiza
01:27:50.807 --> 01:27:52.684
and I went to his villa.
01:27:52.934 --> 01:27:56.609
When he opened the door,
I was in shock
01:27:56.855 --> 01:28:00.155
because the person
who opened the door,
01:28:00.484 --> 01:28:03.328
he was a different person,
he was really skinny
01:28:03.612 --> 01:28:07.617
and looking very fragile
and very, very pale.
01:28:08.200 --> 01:28:11.500
When I hugged him,
that's when I noticed
01:28:11.661 --> 01:28:14.210
something has changed because...
01:28:14.623 --> 01:28:17.672
His body structure was just bones.
01:28:18.043 --> 01:28:21.798
There was hardly any muscle
or flesh there.
01:28:24.633 --> 01:28:28.809
Lee come in with the idea
of having an invitation for a show
01:28:28.929 --> 01:28:30.931
that had that metamorphosis.
01:28:31.097 --> 01:28:34.692
He wanted his face
to transform into a skull.
01:28:35.435 --> 01:28:40.407
Everything in his life had just led
to these feelings of torment.
01:28:41.316 --> 01:28:43.489
Lee was HIV positive.
01:28:44.361 --> 01:28:47.535
Even though it isn't
a death sentence as such,
01:28:48.240 --> 01:28:51.414
I think it was always
in the back of Lee's mind.
01:28:51.868 --> 01:28:54.371
You'd feel the bad vibes
when Lee was down.
01:28:54.621 --> 01:28:58.171
There was a real depression
that was brought with that as well.
01:29:11.054 --> 01:29:13.148
I think the trouble is with Lee,
01:29:13.390 --> 01:29:17.236
after a show, when you've done
that build-up and you've worked hard,
01:29:17.477 --> 01:29:21.323
you could see
there was a little bit of a down.
01:29:23.692 --> 01:29:25.194
And then onto the next show.
01:29:25.861 --> 01:29:26.908
Again.
01:29:28.363 --> 01:29:32.163
Yeah, it was just show after show.
I don't know how Lee did it.
01:29:37.372 --> 01:29:41.047
The pressures
kind of quite immense now
01:29:41.293 --> 01:29:45.014
because of the Gucci contract
and, erm...
01:29:46.339 --> 01:29:47.386
You know, the...
01:29:47.674 --> 01:29:50.974
I do the men's now
and now I also do McQ,
01:29:51.219 --> 01:29:53.722
so it's about 14 collections
a year again,
01:29:53.930 --> 01:29:57.810
same as when I was at Givenchy,
so it's hard work.
01:30:04.149 --> 01:30:06.322
He would have liked
the idea of moving away
01:30:06.484 --> 01:30:08.031
and just leaving everything behind,
01:30:08.320 --> 01:30:12.200
but as it was his name above the door
and his reputation as a person
01:30:12.365 --> 01:30:15.710
and everything he had built,
he couldn't just abandon it.
01:30:22.542 --> 01:30:25.921
If I ever get that old and I'm still
around and I leave my company,
01:30:26.713 --> 01:30:30.092
I'll just burn the place down
so there's no one working there.
01:30:30.383 --> 01:30:33.136
Really?
So you'd never let someone carry on
01:30:33.762 --> 01:30:36.606
the McQueen tradition
or the McQueen brand
01:30:36.723 --> 01:30:38.600
if you weren't actively involved?
01:30:39.309 --> 01:30:40.401
Erm...
01:30:41.311 --> 01:30:43.564
I don't think so. I mean, it doesn't...
01:30:44.230 --> 01:30:47.951
It... Because that person will have
to come up with the concepts for my show
01:30:48.109 --> 01:30:49.986
and my shows are so personal.
01:30:50.070 --> 01:30:51.617
How can... How can that be?
01:30:53.281 --> 01:30:56.330
I said, "Why don't you
just step away, Lee, for a year?"
01:30:56.910 --> 01:30:58.457
And he just said,
"You don't understand."
01:30:58.536 --> 01:31:01.756
He said, "I'm responsible
for 50 people.
01:31:01.998 --> 01:31:05.127
"They've got to pay their mortgages.
I can't just stop."
01:31:08.046 --> 01:31:09.889
I was always thinking
01:31:10.048 --> 01:31:12.471
there's so much sadness in him,
01:31:12.717 --> 01:31:14.560
and that was sad, you know,
01:31:14.719 --> 01:31:19.190
because he was this successful,
flamboyant being
01:31:19.432 --> 01:31:21.355
who actually was so lonely deep inside.
01:31:21.601 --> 01:31:24.229
It can be. It can be really lonely.
01:31:24.562 --> 01:31:26.155
And I think...
01:31:26.564 --> 01:31:29.693
You know, I think
there's more to life than fashion
01:31:30.068 --> 01:31:33.197
and I don't want to be stuck
in that bubble of, "This is what I do."
01:31:33.321 --> 01:31:37.042
It's nice because you see
everyone in the office.
01:31:37.283 --> 01:31:39.206
They go home
and they can shut off
01:31:39.661 --> 01:31:42.505
but I'm still Alexander McQueen
after I shut the door.
01:31:42.789 --> 01:31:45.463
Do you know what I mean?
I've got to go home with myself, so...
01:31:46.084 --> 01:31:47.677
You know,
if you've had a bad day,
01:31:47.794 --> 01:31:50.343
I've only got myself
to answer to, so...
01:31:59.180 --> 01:32:03.105
I mean, with us,
he was, like, behaving...
01:32:04.102 --> 01:32:05.604
All right, OK,
01:32:06.438 --> 01:32:10.659
but deep inside
we knew that he wasn't...
01:32:12.569 --> 01:32:14.242
He wasn't 100%.
01:32:14.821 --> 01:32:16.949
He could hear voices.
01:32:17.115 --> 01:32:20.619
He was telling me
that they were chasing him.
01:32:21.536 --> 01:32:23.379
One thing he used to say,
01:32:23.538 --> 01:32:25.882
"Paranoia will destroy ya."
01:32:26.708 --> 01:32:28.927
I remember doing a drawing
01:32:29.377 --> 01:32:32.051
which, basically, has got
lots of cameras around.
01:32:32.213 --> 01:32:34.557
We're thinking, "Maybe
the cameras could be on robots."
01:32:34.841 --> 01:32:37.344
It was always about
getting the camera right in your face
01:32:37.552 --> 01:32:40.852
and it's surveillance,
making the audience a bit uncomfortable.
01:32:41.556 --> 01:32:43.399
The idea behind Plato's Atlantis
01:32:43.475 --> 01:32:46.445
is where people come from the land
and go back into the sea.
01:33:00.200 --> 01:33:02.294
He loved swimming, scuba diving.
01:33:02.494 --> 01:33:05.589
He loved that feeling of just being
in a different world unden/vater,
01:33:06.206 --> 01:33:07.708
just away from everything,
01:33:07.832 --> 01:33:10.176
almost like you're back in the womb,
floating.
01:33:10.543 --> 01:33:14.389
You know? And that kind of serenity
you would get through that.
01:33:15.340 --> 01:33:18.719
Plato's Atlantis
was kind of like a study in his head
01:33:18.968 --> 01:33:20.845
with all the digital printing
01:33:21.304 --> 01:33:24.228
and all the experimenting,
pattern-cutting.
01:33:24.599 --> 01:33:27.899
And the robots were there again.
01:33:28.228 --> 01:33:32.278
He said to me, "I designed
my last coflection, Sebastian."
01:33:32.857 --> 01:33:35.781
And he told me,
"I've had enough with all this.
01:33:36.611 --> 01:33:38.409
"I am gonna kill myself."
01:33:39.197 --> 01:33:41.871
"What do you mean,
you're gonna kill yourself?"
01:33:42.283 --> 01:33:44.456
He's like, "Yeah, I...
01:33:44.536 --> 01:33:47.380
"I am fed up. I've had it with this.
01:33:47.539 --> 01:33:49.541
"L just wanna put an end to it.
01:33:49.833 --> 01:33:53.383
"And in my last show,
in the end..."
01:33:53.545 --> 01:33:55.013
He said,
"Do you remember Voss?
01:33:55.797 --> 01:33:57.891
"So, I'm gonna do
the same sort of thing,
01:33:58.424 --> 01:34:02.179
"but it's going to be a Perspex box
the size of a human being.
01:34:02.303 --> 01:34:03.555
"So, when the show ends,
01:34:03.721 --> 01:34:07.567
"this box is gonna come up
from the ground
01:34:08.893 --> 01:34:10.895
"with me inside.
01:34:11.020 --> 01:34:12.693
"And then I'm just...
01:34:12.814 --> 01:34:14.566
"I'm just gonna
shoot myself."
01:34:15.984 --> 01:34:17.031
And...
01:34:18.778 --> 01:34:20.200
And I...
01:34:20.363 --> 01:34:23.492
I mean, I just didn't know
what to... How to react to that.
01:34:23.616 --> 01:34:25.368
You know what I mean?
Because“.
01:34:26.161 --> 01:34:27.708
He sounded so convinced.
01:34:38.506 --> 01:34:40.554
It was like he thought
01:34:40.925 --> 01:34:45.522
that the whole fashion "system"
was against him.
01:34:46.222 --> 01:34:49.021
And I said, "No, no one is against you.
01:34:49.851 --> 01:34:53.196
"But if you are thinking to do this,
01:34:53.313 --> 01:34:55.691
"you're gonna harm so many people
01:34:56.191 --> 01:34:59.070
"because people come
to your shows to see your beauty,
01:34:59.485 --> 01:35:02.159
"your talent, your creativity and
01:35:03.573 --> 01:35:05.541
"to see you, to see your work."
01:35:22.342 --> 01:35:24.219
He was like a movie director.
01:35:24.510 --> 01:35:27.309
We had to be like aliens
and he told us this.
01:35:27.513 --> 01:35:29.891
He said, "Listen, you have
to have this face.
01:35:30.308 --> 01:35:32.731
"Strong, you know.
You have to be powerful."
01:35:32.894 --> 01:35:35.363
With this show,
he kind of threw a bomb on us.
01:35:35.480 --> 01:35:37.858
"OK, this is it. Finished.
Everything is finished.
01:35:38.024 --> 01:35:39.867
"We are reborn. We're starting anew.
01:35:40.026 --> 01:35:41.573
"New chapter, new planet."
01:35:54.540 --> 01:35:56.838
I was really scared.
01:35:56.960 --> 01:35:59.088
I tried not to picture myself falling.
01:35:59.712 --> 01:36:01.339
I wanted him to be proud of me
01:36:01.464 --> 01:36:03.887
and I wanted him to be proud
01:36:04.259 --> 01:36:07.183
that he has such an army of models.
01:36:14.102 --> 01:36:15.854
Endless print designs.
01:36:15.979 --> 01:36:19.483
It might have been a fish's fin
or scales from a snake,
01:36:20.024 --> 01:36:23.574
and then manipulated and montaged
01:36:23.695 --> 01:36:26.039
into a repeat pattern.
01:36:26.197 --> 01:36:28.871
And it became something else,
unrecognisable.
01:36:29.284 --> 01:36:32.663
This was the turn of the digital age
coming into fashion.
01:36:34.205 --> 01:36:36.799
It towards the end
he wasn't that happy,
01:36:37.083 --> 01:36:40.383
why his best collection is there?
01:36:48.553 --> 01:36:52.183
He knew he needed
something revolutionary.
01:36:52.724 --> 01:36:55.694
And I think
Plato's Atlantis is, I'm sorry.
01:37:06.446 --> 01:37:09.871
I didn't go to Plato,
my mum not being well.
01:37:10.033 --> 01:37:12.001
She was on dialysis at the time.
01:37:12.327 --> 01:37:16.503
Lee didn't really want to face the fact
that we was gonna lose Mum.
01:37:16.581 --> 01:37:19.050
Because he'd lost Issie,
01:37:19.167 --> 01:37:21.215
he wasn't, erm,
01:37:22.545 --> 01:37:25.298
dealing with Mum not being well.
01:37:35.850 --> 01:37:38.979
After my grandmother Joyce
passed away,
01:37:40.938 --> 01:37:42.940
he was in really bad shape.
01:37:43.524 --> 01:37:45.401
Lee was distraught.
01:37:45.860 --> 01:37:48.534
We was sitting
in the living room at my dad's
01:37:49.864 --> 01:37:52.868
and he didn't look himself at all,
Lee.
01:37:54.160 --> 01:37:58.210
I mean, we was all taking
my mum's passing bad.
01:37:59.207 --> 01:38:04.134
I think we was all worried about Lee
because obviously Mum and Lee...
01:38:06.547 --> 01:38:08.390
Lee idolised my mum.
01:38:19.852 --> 01:38:21.946
The lastjob he gave me to do
01:38:22.063 --> 01:38:24.486
was designing the gravestone.
01:38:25.817 --> 01:38:28.696
He liked the idea of the wings
wrapping round the gravestone
01:38:28.820 --> 01:38:31.949
to kind of embrace
my grandmother Joyce.
01:38:33.199 --> 01:38:35.167
Originally, I had hands
01:38:35.284 --> 01:38:37.958
which were facing down
on top of the gravestone.
01:38:38.287 --> 01:38:43.464
But the hands for him facing down
was holding them down.
01:38:43.751 --> 01:38:46.504
He wanted them uplifted,
so he turned the hands upwards.
01:38:50.633 --> 01:38:52.635
I called Lee
01:38:52.927 --> 01:38:54.270
and
01:38:55.471 --> 01:38:57.223
we spoke about
01:38:58.224 --> 01:39:00.226
Mum's funeral and...
01:39:01.561 --> 01:39:03.859
And that was the last conversation.
01:39:19.871 --> 01:39:21.214
The night...
01:39:21.372 --> 01:39:24.216
Iwas in bed,
I was reading, and I felt...
01:39:25.042 --> 01:39:27.010
I felt something touch my head.
01:39:28.379 --> 01:39:30.473
Very softly and very gently.
01:39:30.548 --> 01:39:33.051
I touched my head
and I said to myself,
01:39:33.551 --> 01:39:35.474
"Who's here? Who are you?"
01:39:36.053 --> 01:39:39.557
I knew someone had passed
and was saying goodbye.
01:39:59.660 --> 01:40:03.881
I got a call at half past 9:00
in the morning
01:40:04.040 --> 01:40:05.542
from my sister.
01:40:05.666 --> 01:40:08.169
And then that phone call...
01:40:10.046 --> 01:40:12.390
Just changed...
01:40:13.883 --> 01:40:15.100
Everything.
01:40:16.427 --> 01:40:18.600
I just really couldn't believe
what I was hearing
01:40:18.763 --> 01:40:21.892
because itjust seemed so surreal
in that moment.
01:40:24.393 --> 01:40:29.866
Just the vision in my mind
of Lee being sort of all alone
01:40:29.982 --> 01:40:31.575
and doing that as well
01:40:31.692 --> 01:40:34.366
was playing through my mind,
you know, and it's quite...
01:40:35.696 --> 01:40:37.073
Er...
01:40:37.198 --> 01:40:39.917
It's not the nicest way to go, you know.
01:40:40.701 --> 01:40:42.749
Suicide, alone, hanging.
01:40:43.454 --> 01:40:45.206
It's, erm...
01:40:46.290 --> 01:40:49.169
I just don't want to think
what was going through his mind,
01:40:49.418 --> 01:40:52.092
how lonely he must have been as well,
doing it.
01:41:01.347 --> 01:41:03.270
The fashion world
is in shock
01:41:03.516 --> 01:41:05.894
over news that Alexander McQueen
has died...
01:41:06.102 --> 01:41:09.276
The darling of British
fashion has been found dead after...
01:41:26.539 --> 01:41:28.166
He used to say that a lot.
01:41:28.332 --> 01:41:29.959
"One day
01:41:30.126 --> 01:41:33.676
"I'm gonna come home
inside a body bag."
01:41:35.881 --> 01:41:37.883
And that day when...
01:41:40.052 --> 01:41:43.226
The news opened again
that day
01:41:43.389 --> 01:41:46.518
of him leaving his house
inside a body bag.
01:41:52.940 --> 01:41:57.821
I'd taken my kids
to Hamleys' 100th-year celebration
01:41:58.154 --> 01:42:00.748
and my partner picked me up and said,
01:42:00.906 --> 01:42:01.953
"I've got..."
01:42:02.199 --> 01:42:05.043
I can't do it. It'll just be really
silly. I'll just cry.
01:42:05.453 --> 01:42:08.002
He said, "Lee's dead."
01:42:08.372 --> 01:42:11.000
And it was just such a shock
01:42:11.417 --> 01:42:14.796
and I was so angry
for a really long time.
01:42:15.046 --> 01:42:17.265
Because you think just...
"How do you...
01:42:17.757 --> 01:42:20.135
"How did that happen?"
You know? He's...
01:42:21.802 --> 01:42:23.054
I think that
01:42:25.389 --> 01:42:28.233
perhaps after my mum went
01:42:28.392 --> 01:42:33.865
that he felt there was nothing
that could make him happy any more.
01:42:34.774 --> 01:42:38.699
And I just think it was
in that moment that
01:42:40.863 --> 01:42:43.366
he had that emptiness.
01:42:45.159 --> 01:42:47.082
I miss him a lot, yeah.
01:42:47.703 --> 01:42:51.082
I miss that... That... You know...
01:42:51.791 --> 01:42:54.795
He could have had, like,
some really great happiness in his life
01:42:54.877 --> 01:42:58.006
and he didn't quite have that
in his personal life.
01:42:58.214 --> 01:43:02.139
And... That's what I wish...
Wished for him most.
01:43:02.968 --> 01:43:04.220
Yeah.
01:43:08.391 --> 01:43:11.611
I'm so happy I got to...
01:43:12.812 --> 01:43:14.689
To meet him and to...
01:43:16.440 --> 01:43:18.192
To share
01:43:18.734 --> 01:43:22.284
part of my life with his story
and everything.
01:43:23.364 --> 01:43:24.786
But I miss him.
01:43:24.865 --> 01:43:26.367
I wish
01:43:27.493 --> 01:43:30.713
things ended in a different way.
01:43:46.387 --> 01:43:48.435
He wanted to make
really beautiful things
01:43:48.639 --> 01:43:50.141
and he sculpted in clothing.
01:43:50.391 --> 01:43:52.064
He was a sculptor really, I think,
01:43:52.351 --> 01:43:54.149
and that's where that silhouette
came from.
01:43:56.021 --> 01:43:59.195
His clothes made me feel
that you could be feminine,
01:43:59.400 --> 01:44:03.200
but at the same time, you know,
"Don't fuck with me, I'm a bitch."
01:44:07.199 --> 01:44:11.420
The thing I remember best
is seeing him working.
01:44:12.163 --> 01:44:13.836
It was magical.
01:44:14.123 --> 01:44:16.876
For me, he was like a magician.
01:44:20.379 --> 01:44:22.677
One outfit would just be insane
01:44:22.965 --> 01:44:25.639
and then the next one
would just be genius.
01:44:27.178 --> 01:44:32.730
Nobody could create emotions
in a show like Lee McQueen did.
01:44:35.478 --> 01:44:39.153
Fashion for Lee was a way
of just communicating a whole world
01:44:39.273 --> 01:44:42.447
and he wanted to take himself
out of the picture,
01:44:42.526 --> 01:44:46.030
for people just to focus
on this art that he was creating.
01:44:47.490 --> 01:44:51.916
Raucous, bolshie,
incredibly funny, incredibly driven.
01:44:52.369 --> 01:44:56.840
Not only did he have a singular vision,
but he was a very singular individual.
01:44:57.166 --> 01:45:01.171
And his strength of personality
was quite phenomenal.
01:45:01.796 --> 01:45:04.219
You just don't see
many people like that.
01:45:04.548 --> 01:45:07.017
They don't...
They don't come up very often.
01:45:08.548 --> 01:45:35.017
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