Neptune (Alexander McQueen collection)

British designer Alexander McQueen was known in the fashion industry for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs and fashion shows that were theatrical to the point of verging on performance art.[2][3][4] In the years preceding Neptune, however, he had reached a point of exhaustion with his career and the fashion industry, at one point saying, "I go in, I do my business, do the parties, and leave."[5] Some critics felt that his work – particularly The Man Who Knew Too Much (Autumn/Winter 2005), which immediately preceded Neptune – had become increasingly conventional, prompting concerns that he was losing his touch for showmanship.[5][6] Others, believing that McQueen tended to alternate between low-key and spectacular shows, anticipated that Neptune would be a return to extravagance.[7][8]

Sketch of women wearing clothing in the style of ancient Greece

Azzedine Alaïa ensemble in black jersey, 1987

Greek-inspired Gianni Versace mini shift dress in gold chain mail with belts, unknown year

The collection was named for Neptune, the sea god of Roman mythology. The theming was loose, with elements from the clothing of ancient Greece and 1980s fashion, especially power dressing.[5][9] He made clear references to designers whose work helped define the look of the 1980s: Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaïa, who was known for his body-conscious designs, and Italian designer Gianni Versace, whose work hovered between seductive and tawdry.[7][8] Some saw inspiration from Issey Miyake in the tightly pleated skirts of some ensembles, including Look 13.[10][8] McQueen also cited fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, artist Jean-Paul Goude, and Jamaican performer Grace Jones, all of whom contributed to the hard, high-glamour look of the 1980s.[8][7] In his pre-show statement, McQueen said "I'm bringing sex back to the market. Women want to be excited again".[9] He said it was a transitional collection, as he was "trying to find my niche. What do I do best? Sexy tailoring, sexy clothes."[9]

Two main phases of looks were presented, with 56 looks total. The first half comprised monochrome black ensembles with white, silver, and grey accents and a focus on tailoring, while the second half involved outfits in a palette of white, green, and gold with a draped "Greek goddess" look.[1][5][8] Looks 33, 51, and 54 from the second phase featured metallic bodysuits with extreme cutouts, suggestive of swimwear.[1][11][12] Other recurring elements throughout included sheer panels, short hemlines, exposed skin, and leather.[8][13] Some reviewers found the second phase bore similarities to Search for the Golden Fleece, McQueen's 1997 debut as head designer at Givenchy – that collection also took inspiration from Greek mythology and had a gold and white palette.[5][14]

The runway show for Neptune was staged during Paris Fashion Week on 7 October 2005 at the industrial warehouse of the Imprimerie Nationale.[15][7] The invitation was a black and white photo of a model in a bubble bath whose nude form was only partially obscured by bubbles.[8] The show's simplicity was an extreme departure from the over-the-top spectacles reviewers had come to expect from McQueen: models walked down an unadorned 30-foot (9.1 m) concrete runway with stark lighting, posed briefly, then returned without fanfare.[1][8][12] It was closer in style to the strapped-budget shows from his early days, such as Nihilism (Spring/Summer 1994).[8] The soundtrack comprised 1980s rock music, with tracks from Siouxsie and the Banshees, Suzi Quatro, and the Ike and Tina Turner single "Nutbush City Limits".[8]

All models were at least 5'11", echoing the trend for Amazonian supermodels of the 1980s.[7] Bare legs and gladiator sandals with stiletto heels further emphasized the models' statures.[13] Eugene Souleiman styled hair, which was slicked back on top and left to flow in waves across the shoulders.[16][15] Charlotte Tilbury styled makeup in a "simple and glamorous" style.[15][7] Some models carried handbags, which McQueen had debuted in the previous season.[17] At the show's end, after the models took their final turn, McQueen appeared to take his bow. He wore a shirt reading "We Love You Kate" as a gesture of public support toward his friend, English supermodel Kate Moss; who at the time of the show was embroiled in a scandal over alleged drug use.[18][17]

Neptune was poorly received at launch for a number of reasons. McQueen's signature theatricality was absent from the runway show, disappointing reviewers who expected its return.[1][16] The minimalist runway show forced reviewers to focus on the clothing, not necessarily to its benefit.[9][1] The overly commercial designs led to the assumption that McQueen was designing for sales and producing clothes that lacked his usual artistic flair.[6][1][16] Several critics drew unflattering comparisons to costumes from genre fiction.[9][1][16]

Sarah Mower's review for Vogue was uniformly negative: she found both show and clothing dull, reserving particular scorn for the metallic bodysuits, which she wrote had "all the finesse of something left over from an eighties sci-fi TV series".[1] Although she did not criticize McQueen for wanting to sell clothing, she felt the collection did not live up to his artistic capabilities.[1]

The staff writer for Women's Wear Daily agreed that McQueen might have been designing with sales numbers in mind, but was less negative about the collection.[9] They found the clothing in Neptune "more refined" than in Golden Fleece and called out Look 29 as potential red carpet wear, saying it should "prove hyper telegenic".[9] However, they found the collection overall looked less like a Greek goddess and more "like a meeting of Xena and a well-turned-out sci-fi high priestess", concluding their review by calling the clothing "too hard" and too commercial and suggesting that McQueen was "stifling his brilliance".[9]

Cathy Horyn of The New York Times compared McQueen and fellow British designer John Galliano – a common occurrence due to their roughly parallel career arcs and similarly maximalist styles – noting that both seemed to be reining in their creativity in favor of commercial appeal.[6][19] She wrote that Neptune was "manifestly commercial", with a "hard, clean look redolent of the 80's" and clear influence from Alaïa.[6] She found Look 35, a tailored white pantsuit, to be the "smartest" and "subtlest" in the collection.[6] Ultimately she felt that McQueen had "grasped the notion of sexiness technically but not with feeling or belief".[6]

Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian described the collection as an "ill-matched" mix between 1970s rock and roll fashion and a Greek goddess look, with a result that looked more like comic book superheroine Wonder Woman.[16] She noted the lack of "shock tactics" on the runway except for McQueen's appearance in the Kate Moss shirt.[16]

The collection is viewed with little enthusiasm in retrospect. In her 2012 biography of McQueen, Judith Watt wrote that it "screamed Cinecittà kitsch," referring to the Cinecittà film studio in Rome.[20] In her 2015 book Gods and Kings, Dana Thomas called it a "soulless exercise" indicative of McQueen's late-career malaise, and wrote that the "only thing notable about that show" was the Kate Moss T-shirt.[5] Andrew Wilson does not even discuss the clothing in Blood Beneath the Skin, his 2015 biography of McQueen, mentioning the collection only to note the supportive gesture for Moss.[21] Introducing the collection in Alexander McQueen: Unseen (2016), fashion theorist Claire Wilcox remarked that it was "perhaps the closest McQueen ever got to staging a beauty contest, albeit for superwomen."[13]

Fashion collector Jennifer Zuiker auctioned her McQueen collection in 2020, including at least two pieces from Neptune. A nude bodysuit with severe cutouts (Look 54) sold for a reported $3,437, while a green minidress with jewelled accents (Look 56) sold for a reported $6,875.[22][23][24]

The retrospective exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty did not include any clothing from Neptune in either its 2011 staging at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art or its 2015 staging at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.[25] Items from Neptune appeared in Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse, a 2022 exhibition that explored McQueen's work as it related to art history. It was placed in the "Mythos" section of the exhibition, which examined collections inspired by religion and mythology.[26]

• Bethune, Kate (2015). "Encyclopedia of Collections". In Wilcox, Claire (ed.). Alexander McQueen. New York City: Abrams Books. pp. 303–326. ISBN 978-1-4197-1723-9. OCLC 891618596.
• Bolton, Andrew (2011). Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. New York City: Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-412-5.
• Esguerra, Clarissa M.; Hansen, Michaela (2022). Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. New York City: Delmonico Books. ISBN 978-1-63681-018-8. OCLC 1289986708.
• Fairer, Robert; Wilcox, Claire (2016). Alexander McQueen: Unseen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22267-8. OCLC 946216643.
• Gleason, Katherine (2012). Alexander McQueen: Evolution. New York City: Race Point Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61058-837-9.
• Knox, Kristin (2010). Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation. London: A&C Black. ISBN 978-1-4081-3223-4.
• Thomas, Dana (2015). Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Penguin Publishing. ISBN 978-1-101-61795-3.
• Watt, Judith (2012). Alexander McQueen: The Life and the Legacy. New York City: Harper Design. ISBN 978-1-84796-085-6. OCLC 892706946.
• Wilson, Andrew (2015). Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin. New York City: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4767-7674-3.

• "Women's Spring / Summer 06: "Neptune"". Alexander McQueen. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
• Alexander McQueen | Women's Spring/Summer 2006 on YouTube