McQueen and the Femme Fatale

I am obsessed with Alexander McQueen. (The man is a god: his label made Kate Middleton's wedding dress post-suicide (it don't get any better). This blog, however, will not dwell on his death.

Alexander McQueen was the enfant terrible of British fashion. A rebel. A hooligan. The man who wrote "I am a cunt" in the lining of a suit made for Prince Charles when he as an apprentice at a Saville Row tailor AND who wore "we love you Kate" on the runway oo his 2006 spring/summer show at the height of Ms. Moss' cocaine scandal.

McQueen has always held a dark view of the world and his work centred around death, sexuality and commerce.

His work has been described as violent, disturbing and misogynistic. My favourite description, however, is that McQueen's fashion shows were Theatre of Cruelty. This term was famously coined by Antonin Artaud in his manifestos in The Theatre and Its Double at the turn of the 20th Century.

At the moment, I'm super interested in his take on the femme fatale archetype. A bit of background here: The term literally means 'deadly woman' and the concept has been around since ancient times (think Eve, Delilah, Cleopatra, Aphrodite, the Sphinx & Jezebel). A femme fatale is a mysterious female who ensnares the affections of men. She uses her feminine wiles such beauty and sexual allure to achieve her secret desire. She is often the victim of inescapable circumstances and must use violence and murder. She is sexualized as a form of defense. She is traditionally a villain, someone for men to fear and is thus often associated with magic, witchcraft and vampires.

The Marquis de Sade saw these features, not as evil, but as those of the ultimate woman. In his Juliette, the femme fatale finally triumphs.

 Lana Turner as Cora Smith in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1941)

The icon of the femme fatale gained popularity in film noir of the 40s and 50s. She refuses to abide by the societal norms imposed on her gender (i.e. to be the submissive housewife). She does not abide by the status quo because she controls her own sexuality outside of the traditional frame of marriage. She becomes visually dominant and unrepentant to the end. One cannot neutralise the femme fatale because her power extends beyond death. This period also saw a new take on the figure. On occasion, she is converted into a 'good woman' by the hero, she develops into an anti-heroine of sorts.

In the 90s, McQueen and others began to re-explore the femme fatale. Art and cultural theory (influenced by Freud's uncanny', Kristeva's 'abject' and Bataille's 'informe') focused on 'the body.' In shows like Dante (1996), he began to develop a 20th Century femme fatale who was no longer an object of fear, but rather a frightening subject.

The Philip Treacy stag horns and McQueen dress create a the image of a feral woman, only half human.

His femme fatale is a thing of beauty that has absorbed the energy of ugliness. He allies glamour with fear rather than allure, creating a strong woman is fabulous you don't dare to lay a hand on her. His clothing acts as a talisman to protect its bearer in an uncertain world. The femme fatale is no longer victim or villain. She is an independent, contemporary heroine.

GENIUS!