"My shows are about sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. It’s for the excitement and the goosebumps. I want heart attacks. I want ambulances." – Alexander McQueen

During the 90s, Alexander McQueen’s daring, darkly humorous aesthetic became synonymous with London fashion. His clothes combined Savile Row tailoring with experimental technologies and political critiques. His low-rise ‘bumster’ pants brought down waistlines for the next two decades, and his signature skull-motif scarf was copied around the world. But how did an ordinary Lewisham lad named Lee become Alexander, couturier to the stars and edgy king of runway theatre? And what demons drove him to end his life in 2010, aged only 40?

In this must-watch portrait of an unforgettable designer, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui delve into McQueen’s personal archives dating back to his earliest work, and revisit his most notorious runway spectacles. McQueen also assembles the designer’s closest friends and family in a kind of Greek chorus. Their memories take you inside his circle, exploring his private anxieties and his intimate but fraught friendship with influential stylist Isabella Blow.

"Film and video might be the only medium that can capture the excitement of what McQueen was doing at the apex of his career, because it was so inherently cinematic … Bonhôte and Ettedgui make it even more accessible, earnestly and convincingly making the argument for fashion as not just art, but great art." – Vulture

McQueen's first screening and MIFF Festival Lounge launch party is presented by Russh

As part of The Bigger Picture program, enjoy a short introduction by Hannah McCann from The University of Melbourne – MIFF Learning Partner.