Three days ahead of the British label’s return to London Fashion Week under creative director Sean McGirr, a custom version of the opening look from Alexander McQueen’s last show “Plato’s Atlantis” broke his auction record, going under the hammer for $1.586 million.
The winning bidder’s identity was not immediately disclosed.
Consisting of a puff-sleeve top and bubble skirt (and Armadillo heels), the set made of Lurex-flecked jacquard was faithfully reproduced based on a dress that walked the spring 2010 runway, the first to be live-streamed online, on Polish model Magdalena Frąckowiak. It features the same digitally rendered reptile motifs and yellow hexagonal hip embellishments as the original, which is still the property of the McQueen archive in London.
As reported, the “Plato’s Atlantis” look was one of 23 lots in the “The Impossible Couture Collection” curated by New York socialite Peter Brant Jr. in collaboration with the app-based auction house Fair Warning. More than tripling early estimates, which started at $600,000, the final price confirms there’s still plenty of intrigue surrounding McQueen more than two decades after he committed suicide.
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Furthering the intrigue is the ensemble’s exceptional provenance: it belonged to supermodel Naomi Campbell, a personal friend of McQueen’s who closed her Fashion For Relief Haiti charity show wearing it as a tribute to the designer after his death.
During the Sept. 17 sale at Brant Jr.’s Upper East Side mansion, auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen lauded McQueen and his Darwinian vision of a woman returning to the sea, saying: “It’s going to the Met one day.”
In fact, it already has— sort of. The original dress was displayed in both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” exhibit, only adding to the value of Campbell’s set.
Also adding to its value is the fact that McQueen’s Armadillo shoes, of which only 21 were produced, have become pop-cultural phenomena all their own thanks to Lady Gaga. The musician famously strode atop an opalescent pair in her “Bad Romance” music video, later wearing a python pair on the red carpet at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Between 10 and 12 inches high with a dramatic curved foot resembling the mammal’s shell, the Armadillo shoes were so difficult to walk in three models cast in “Plato’s Atlantis” refused to wear them out of concern for their safety.
Campbell’s ensemble now ranks among the most valuable fashion pieces ever sold at auction, including Jane Birkin’s prototype Birkin ($10.1 million) and the sheer Bob Mackie gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday Mr. President” ($4.8 million) to John F. Kennedy.
All told, “The Impossible Couture Collection” generated sales of $3.2 million. Following McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent and Azzedine Alaïa also broke their previously held records with a 1960s Mondrian dress by the former and a 1990s navy silk muslin gown by the latter fetching $750,000 and $175,000, respectively.
