Eighth R.L. Shep Triennial Symposium: Lee Alexander McQueen: Contextualizing Scanners in Art History

In conjunction with the exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, renowned scholars and artists explore imagination, artistic process, and innovation in fashion and art to further examine the interdisciplinary impulse that defined McQueen’s career, legacy, and sources of inspiration for the Eighth R.L. Shep Triennial Symposium on Textiles and Dress. One of the most significant contributors to fashion between 1990 and 2010, Lee Alexander McQueen (London, 1969–2010) was both a conceptual and technical virtuoso. His critically acclaimed collections synthesized the designer’s proficiency in tailoring and dressmaking with both encyclopedic and autobiographical references that spanned time, geography, media, and technology. The first McQueen exhibition on the West Coast, Mind, Mythos, Muse contextualizes the designer’s imaginative work within a canon of artmakers who drew upon analogous themes and visual references. McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2003-4 collection, Scanners, portrays a journey across Siberia and Tibet, destined for Japan, as illustrated by garment materials, construction, and decorative motifs that the designer borrowed from these regions. Although McQueen was not a textile scholar, Scanners affords a unique lens through which to consider notable cultural exchanges, such as the proliferation of Buddhism, ingrained into textile history. Co-curator Michaela Hansen discusses McQueen’s use of a woven silk pattern of interlocking octagons and floral medallions in