Inspiration Sarabande (Spring/Summer 2007) is the twenty-ninth collection McQueen designed for his eponymous
fashion house. The concept was an exploration of fragility and decaying grandeur expressed through floral motifs. The name was taken from a style of music called the
sarabande, which originated in sixteenth century colonial
Latin America before being adopted in a slower form in Europe. According to
Sarah Burton, McQueen's
right-hand woman, the collection changed drastically during the working process, to a degree she considered unusual. Some items were discarded, while others, such as the
tailcoats, were reworked. McQueen later described his work on the collection and its predecessor as his "second wind in fashion", saying that he was enjoying the process more than he had been. Like much of McQueen's work,
Sarabande drew on McQueen's favourite art. The collection was primarily inspired by
Barry Lyndon, a 1975 film by
Stanley Kubrick set in the eighteenth century, known for its themes of
fatalism and
romanticism. It also drew on the life and aesthetics of Italian socialite
Luisa Casati (1881–1957), who was known as a muse for artists, going so far as to declare that she wanted to be "a living work of art." A 1908 portrait of her by
Giovanni Boldini, which shows her in a black dress and large matching hat, was especially formative. The designs were also reminiscent of the costumes from the 1971 film
Death in Venice, set in the European
Belle Époque; it was one of McQueen's favourites. Early looks blended elements of the
sailor suit worn by Tadzio, a young boy whose beauty is central to the film, and the black-and-white outfits worn by his mother.
Sarabande also drew on Spanish painter
Francisco Goya and the
traditional clothing of Mexico and Spain.
Collection The palette for
Sarabande reflected the clothing worn during traditional English phases of
mourning: shades of black, grey, and off-white, as well as dusky hues of pink, lavender, and mauve, which the Edwardians called "ashes of roses". This gave the collection an antiquated aesthetic, which McQueen compared to hand-tinted sepia prints by Victorian photographer
Julia Margaret Cameron. His characteristic tailoring appeared in slimline tailored suits, fitted
riding jackets, and narrow dresses. Other designs showcased his interest in adapting and modernising historical styles. References to clothing of the eighteenth century and the
Edwardian era were mediated through McQueen's love of the costume design from
Barry Lyndon. The historicist designs were updated with modern flourishes such as asymmetry, especially a suite of
high-low skirts with hems cut at calf length in the front and left long in the back.
Sarabande relied heavily on nature imagery for effect, especially
English garden flowers, a contrast to McQueen's usual preference for depicting the natural world untouched by humanity. His depiction of florals for this collection was somewhat morbid. A few months after the show, he told ''Harper's Bazaar'' that he had been thinking of a series of photographs of dying fruit by his friend
Sam Taylor-Wood: "Things rot. It was all about decay. I used flowers because they die." Some garments had embroidery of flowers, while some had full silk or fresh flowers stitched to them. A few dresses had petals trapped beneath chiffon, a style which evoked designs by Koji Tatsuno, a mentor of McQueen's. McQueen referenced Spanish designer
Cristóbal Balenciaga in a set of dresses with puff skirts, especially Look 43, which has a three-tiered puff skirt that author Judith Watt described as "resembling an overblown exotic fungi". Birds and feathers appeared in delicate prints and embroidery, reflecting the ornithological art of
John James Audubon. One gown was covered entirely in feathers. The collection focused on an exaggerated Edwardian
hourglass silhouette with cinched waists and emphasised hips, which McQueen felt enhanced the natural sensuality of the female body. For
Sarabande, Treacy created exaggerated hats in black silk, evoking oversized roses or the shape of the
chaperon from the
Jan van Eyck painting known as
Portrait of a Man in a Turban (1433), which was beloved by McQueen's friend and muse
Isabella Blow. Jewellery for the collection was fairly minimal. Look 21 featured a silver choker with rose thorns, drawing on similar items he had created for McQueen's
Dante (Autumn/Winter 1996). There were also earrings and chokers with
cameos and hair, reflecting Victorian
mourning jewellery, which often included hair as a memento of the deceased. Early in his career, McQueen had referenced this practice by encasing locks of his own hair in the labels and linings of some garments. Taylor-Wood's dying fruit series was a major inspiration for these items, as was
Garden (2000), an
art installation by
Marc Quinn which involved preserved frozen flowers. == Runway show ==