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Alexander McQueen: 'What a Merry-Go-Round' Invitation

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:500.00 - 700.00 USD
Alexander McQueen: 'What a Merry-Go-Round' Invitation

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Auction Date:2020 Oct 24 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Sought-after invitation for Alexander McQueen's fashion show, ‘What a Merry-Go-Round,’ presented at London's Gatliff Road Warehouse on February 21, 2001, as part of the designer’s Autumn/Winter 2001 collection. The invitation, with a center panel measuring 8.25˝ x 6˝, unfolds into a color 16.5˝ x 23.5˝ poster that features an image by photographer Ferdinand Scianna of an elderly clown standing with a rifle against a curtained backdrop; the center panel consists of a simple template of event, venue, press, and buyer information, with the lower right bearing an affixed yellow sticker. The invitation is issued to “Alice Smith” for seat “AM3.” In fine condition, with expected folds and some light creasing.

As the final presentation at the Gatliff Road Warehouse, ‘What a Merry-Go-Round’ did not disappoint. Gothic, dark and disturbing, the event’s theme centered around childhood fear and vulnerability, with McQueen citing the sinister Child Catcher from the 1968 family classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a primary inspiration. The macabre circus atmosphere, rife with clowns and a carousel set, blended Victorian gothic, the American flapper style, and Napoleon-era military pieces with a twisted melange of eerie carnival props like skeletons, broken dolls, balloons, and puppets.