Curiosity, and fear, of the future was very much in the air when Alexander McQueen presented his Fall 1999 fin de siècle collection for Givenchy. Y2K had been generating lots of column inches, as is British “enfant terrible” McQueen, who was shaking up the French house of Givenchy, which for so long was associated with elegance, Audrey Hepburn, and the classic LBD.
McQueen opened his collection with a laser show, and sent Tron-inspired models in what one observer described as “android couture” down a silvery mirrored runway. Embellishments, embroidered and printed, took the form of circuit boards. Glow-in-the-dark looks added drama to the show, as did the light-up finale pieces. These were made of molded clear plastic “vac-formed from plaster body casts” and fitted out with battery-powered, “programmed flashing LEDs.” The only thing missing in this bright picture of the future was shades.
