Invitation for the Alexander McQueen fashion show, ‘It’s a Jungle Out There,' staged at London's Borough Market on February 27, 1997, as part of the designer’s Autumn/Winter 1997 collection. The front of the invitation, 7.75″ x 7.75″, features a stylized Nick Knight photograph of model Debra Shaw in a state of transformation, and the reverse bears white text against a black background, “McQueen, It’s A Jungle Out There,” with date, venue, dedication, and contact information below. The lower border is marked in black felt tip, “Ruti Danan, Standing.” In very good to fine condition, with central vertical creasing.
At McQueen’s 1997 A/W showcase, models with teased manes strutted the runway like feral beasts, clad in animal skins and horns and wild makeup that allowed them to tap into their most animalistic nature. According to McQueen: ‘The whole show feeling was about the Thompson’s gazelle. It’s a poor little critter—the markings are lovely. It’s got these dark eyes, the white and black with the tan markings on the side, the horns—but it is the food chain of Africa. As soon as it’s born it’s dead, I mean you’re lucky if it lasts a few months, and that’s how I see human life, in the same way. You know, we can all be discarded quite easily…you’re there, you’re gone, it’s a jungle out there!’ From The Alexander McQueen Archive of Ruti Danan. Learn more about Alexander McQueen.
