# What A Merry-Go-Round

What A Merry-Go-Round is the eighteenth collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, made for the Autumn/Winter 2001 season of his eponymous fashion house. The collection drew on imagery of clowns and carnivals, inspired by McQueen's feelings about childhood and his experiences in the fashion industry. The palette was largely dark, complemented with neutrals and muted greens. Like his previous show Voss (Spring/Summer 2001), Merry-Go-Round served as a critique of the fashion industry, which McQueen was often ambivalent about. It contained elements that several authors have taken as references to French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH and its management, with whom McQueen had a turbulent relationship.
The collection's runway show was staged on 21 February 2001 at the Gatliff Road Warehouse in London, as part of London Fashion Week. It was his final show in London; all his future collections were presented in Paris. The show was staged in a dark room with a carousel at the centre. During the finale, the lights came up to reveal piles of discarded childhood bric-à-brac at the rear of the stage, while models dressed as evil clowns cavorted around the stage, posing in their eveningwear.
Critical response was positive. Ensembles from Merry-Go-Round have appeared in exhibitions such as the McQueen retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.

## Background

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs, and dramatic fashion shows. During his nearly twenty-year career, he explored a broad range of ideas and themes, including historicism, romanticism, femininity, sexuality, and death. McQueen began his career in fashion as an apprentice with Savile Row tailors, which earned him a reputation as an expert tailor.
From 1996 to October 2001, McQueen was – in addition to his responsibilities for his own label – head designer at French fashion house Givenchy, owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. His time there was fraught, primarily because of creative differences between him, the label, and the management at LVMH. In December 2000, before his Givenchy contract had finished, McQueen signed a deal with Gucci, an Italian fashion house and rival to Givenchy, effectively daring LVMH to fire him. Gucci bought 51 per cent of McQueen's company with McQueen remaining its creative director. What A Merry-Go-Round was the last collection McQueen produced for his own label while with Givenchy.
McQueen's career roughly paralleled that of fellow British designer John Galliano, who preceded him in the industry by about a decade. The men had each graduated from Central Saint Martins art school in London: Galliano in 1984 and McQueen in 1992. Both had started their careers as independent designers before being hired by famous French fashion houses in the mid-1990s; McQueen had replaced Galliano at Givenchy when Galliano went to Dior. Their designs and shows were similarly creative and theatrical. During the period in which their careers overlapped, fashion journalists compared and contrasted their work and career choices, and they have sometimes been referred to as rivals. McQueen, who had a competitive streak, resented being compared to Galliano and often sought to emulate or outdo Galliano's ideas in his own work.

## Concept and collection

What A Merry-Go-Round (Autumn/Winter 2001) is the eighteenth collection McQueen made for his eponymous fashion house. It was inspired by the dark underside of clowns, carnivals, and circuses, as well as the Child Catcher villain from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). As was typical for McQueen, he pulled from his own life to inform his designs. In this case, he connected the vulnerability of childhood to his turbulent experiences with the fashion industry. McQueen explicitly drew on fear of clowns in describing his vision: "We show children clowns as if they are funny. They're not. They’re really scary." Additional inspiration came from the German silent vampire film Nosferatu (1922) and the cabaret shows of Weimar Germany, by way of the film Cabaret (1972). McQueen intended the collection's designs to be relatively unified in order to allow him to build a consistent visual identity for the Alexander McQueen brand. He felt that previous collections had had too many ideas he had not fully capitalised on.
The color palette was dark, with some early looks in neutral colors as well as muted greens throughout. Skulls were a repeat motif. Primary materials included leather and jersey. Peacock and ostrich feathers featured as embellishments. Many items, particularly the bias cut dresses, were influenced by the clothing worn by flappers of the 1920s and the fashion of the 1930s. Military chic appeared in the form of khaki items, garments tailored to resemble military uniforms, and a headpiece of antique-looking airplanes. There were aesthetic elements associated with the French Revolution, including large greatcoats and gold braid. Several designs were reworked from earlier collections, including Joan (Autumn/Winter 1998), Eshu (Autumn/Winter 2000), and Voss (Spring/Summer 2001).

## Runway show
### Production details

The runway show was staged on 21 February 2001, at the Gatliff Road Warehouse in London. It was the last of six shows McQueen held there, and the last show he staged in his home city of London. All his future womenswear collections were staged in Paris. The invitations used an image by Ferdinando Scianna: an elderly-looking clown wearing a red, white, and blue outfit, echoing the tricoloured flag of France. Notable audience members included Kate Moss, Bianca Jagger, and Domenico de Sole, then-CEO of Gucci.
McQueen typically worked with a consistent creative team for his shows, which he planned with Katy England, his assistant and primary stylist. Gainsbury & Whiting were responsible for production. Joseph Bennett, who had designed all of McQueen's runways since No. 13 (Spring/Summer 1999), returned for set design. Hair was styled by Guido Palau, make-up by Val Garland. Philip Treacy created headpieces, while Shaun Leane was responsible for jewellery. Both men were longtime collaborators of McQueen's. Waterford Crystal produced a walking stick made from crystal and bone.

### Catwalk presentation

The centrepiece of the stage was a large antique carousel, the horses covered in black, purple, and lavender latex. The floor was painted in a spiral of grey and blue. Lighting was dim. At the rear, the stage was piled with childhood bric-à-brac including stuffed toys, puppets, balloons, and skeletons, all covered in dust, suggesting an old-fashioned child's nursery, a toy shop, or an attic filled with discarded possessions. These items were in darkness for much of the show, revealed only for the finale.
The show opened with an audio clip of the Child Catcher in which he attempts to lure children with treats so he can capture them. The rest of the backing music included heavy metal music, the theme song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and selections from the soundtrack of horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968) including the Krzysztof Komeda lullaby "Sleep Safe and Warm". "A Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins (1964) played over the finale.
The styling for the models was aggressive – Claire Wilcox wrote that they walked "like dominatrixes", while the Vogue reviewer called them "hard-as-nails". Models were styled with stark white face make-up as a base, reminiscent of Pierrot, a sad clown stock character out of pantomime theatre. In the main section of the show, the models wore dark lips in a style typical of the 1930s and loose hair styled in Marcel waves. In the finale, they wore dark clown make-up and wigs teased into shapes, including some three-pointed styles. Fashion theorist Janice Miller considered it "emblematic" of villains from children's media.
Sixty-two looks were presented in the main runway show, with at least six more in the finale. Models walked around the carousel, some using its poles to twirl around. Look 34, a black dress, was styled with a gold fox skeleton draped over the model's shoulders to mimic a fox fur stole, which author Kristin Knox called an example of McQueen's "remanipulation of the macabre into a thing of true exquisite beauty". Look 35 was a coat with a high, asymmetrical collar and Chinese-inspired embroidery in light green. Look 37 featured a necklace of Tahitian pearls and pheasant claws made by jeweller Shaun Leane. The long strands of pearls suggested 1920s fashion, while the mass of claws deceptively resembled fur and suggested morbidity. Leane, a classically-trained jeweller, later recalled having to teach himself taxidermy in order to craft the necklace. Look 48 featured a helmet with large black feathers and decorative metal skull made by Philip Treacy, worn with a see-through slip of black with purple embroidery. Ana Honigman described the model as looking as though she were "half-siren and half-Valkyrie".
Following Look 62, a black knit dress with white skull on the front, the lights went down, then came back up, illuminating the carousel as well as the decor at the rear of the stage. Several models styled as evil clowns with dark clown make-up and large wigs dusted with cobwebs cavorted around the stage, posing in their eveningwear. One of these models had a gold skeleton – originally a piece of set decoration from Dante (Autumn/Winter 1996) – attached to her ankle. Another wore a bias cut dress in silver which exposed the model's breast, reminiscent of the 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix. Erin O'Connor became entangled in balloons on the side of the stage while making her entrance, dragging them to the centre of the carousel. Other models cut the balloons away to free her. After several minutes, the lights came up fully and the models walked out to take their final turn, followed by McQueen taking his bow.

## Reception

What A Merry-Go-Round was positively received by contemporary reviewers. McQueen later said that he felt the performance had overshadowed the actual designs.
Writing in retrospective, curator Kate Bethune felt that the reworked designs from earlier collections indicated that McQueen had succeeded in creating a "consolidating collection". She found it commercial in a positive way, highlighting the wearability of the bias-cut dresses. Fashion theorists Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas regard it as "unjustly overshadowed" by the preceding collection, Voss.

## Analysis

Several authors regard elements of the collection as being aimed toward the management at French conglomorate LVMH, with whom McQueen had a turbulent relationship. Judith Watt cited the reference to Liberty Leading the People as one. Dana Thomas considered the use of the Child Catcher's voice a direct allusion to LVMH founder Bernard Arnault. Karen Homer concurred, writing that the elements from the French Revolution were a message indicating that McQueen was now free from LVMH. Bethune noted that ironically, despite all the messaging about being free from the French company, all of McQueen's future shows were staged in Paris.
Thomas also thought the collection caricatured the work of John Galliano. Many models wore Marcel waves, which Galliano had been using extensively at that time. Others wore the three-pointed wigs, which mimicked those used in the Galliano show Filibustiers (Spring/Summer 1993). The 1930s-style make-up worn by some models also echoed Galliano's runway styling. Many designs were interpretations of Galliano standards like slip dresses, biker jackets, military coats, and sashes.
Miller argued that the harsh make-up paired with the graceful dresses "mirror[ed] the way McQueen oscillated between beauty and horror" in designing for women. Geczy and Karaminas wrote that the make-up transformed the models into "something uninvitingly ghastly and vampiric".
Geczy and Karaminas identified the performance aspect of Merry-Go-Round as an example of McQueen's "critically incisive" creative practice. The circus theme combined with the references to death and loss of innocence suggested to them a "world of fallen and jaded entertainers". They interpreted this as McQueen's commentary on the "imagined reality" of the fashion industry.

## Legacy

Merry-Go-Round marked the first appearance of the skull motif that is now a signature of the brand.
When McQueen and Leane participated in the Fashion in Motion series at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 2001, they presented the pearl and pheasant necklace as one of their featured items. Leane later created a pair of earrings – pearls held in pheasant claws – that echoed the necklace for his jewellery line. Two items from Merry-Go-Round appeared in the "Romantic Mind" section of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective exhibition of McQueen's designs: a black coatdress and a black ensemble with gold military-style embellishments.
McQueen's friend Alice Smith auctioned a collection of McQueen memorabilia in 2020; an invitation from Merry-Go-Round sold for $334.