Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims is the first collection by British designer Alexander McQueen, produced as the thesis collection for his master's degree in fashion at Central Saint Martins (CSM) art school.
The collection's narrative was inspired by the victims of 19th-century London serial killer Jack the Ripper, with aesthetic inspiration from the fashion, erotica, and prostitution practices of the Victorian era. The collection was presented on the runway at London Fashion Week on 16 March 1992, as the second-to-last of the CSM graduate collections. Editor Isabella Blow was fascinated by the runway show and insisted on purchasing the entire collection, later becoming McQueen's friend and muse.
Jack the Ripper remains an object of critical analysis for its violent concept and styling. McQueen held on to the narrative and aesthetic tendencies he established in Jack the Ripper throughout his career, earning a reputation for producing narratively-driven collections inspired by macabre aspects of history, art, and his own life. Items from Jack the Ripper, including a pink frock coat with a thorn print, have appeared in the retrospectives Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011 and 2015) and Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore! (2013).
Background British designer Alexander McQueen (born Lee Alexander McQueen; 1969–2010) was known in the fashion industry for his imaginative, sometimes controversial, designs and dramatic fashion shows. Over the course of his career, which lasted from 1992 until his death in 2010, he explored a broad range of ideas and themes, particularly sexuality, death, violence, romanticism, and historicism. He was fascinated with many of these topics from childhood. McQueen's work was highly autobiographical: he incorporated elements of his memories, feelings, and family history into his designs and runway shows. In his early career, McQueen was often accused of misogyny for his extreme designs, a characterisation to which he consistently objected.
The son of a London taxicab driver and a teacher, McQueen grew up in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in London's East End. His upbringing was traumatic: he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and witnessed his sisters experiencing domestic violence from their partners. He began his career in fashion in 1984 as an apprentice with Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard before briefly joining Gieves & Hawkes as a pattern cutter. His work on Savile Row earned him a reputation as an expert tailor. McQueen left Savile Row in 1988, and spent the next two years in various entry-level positions in fashion. He worked briefly for the theatrical costumiers Angels and Bermans. In 1989, at the age of 20, he was hired by experimental Mayfair-based designer Koji Tatsuno. He next worked under designer John McKitterick, gaining experience with fetishwear; first at Red or Dead, then at McKitterick's own label.
McQueen sought further experience in the industry, and McKitterick recommended he try for an apprenticeship in Italy, then the centre of the fashion world. From March to July 1990, McQueen worked in Milan at the atelier of designer Romeo Gigli. After resigning, he returned to McKitterick's label in London by August. When McQueen expressed interest in learning more about the fashion industry, McKitterick suggested he see Bobby Hillson, the founder and head of the master's course in fashion at London art school Central Saint Martins (CSM).
Central Saint Martins McQueen turned up at CSM with a pile of sample clothing and no appointment, seeking a job teaching pattern cutting. Hillson considered him too young for this, but based on the strength of his portfolio – and despite his lack of formal qualifications – accepted McQueen into the eighteen-month master's-level fashion design course. Unable to afford the tuition, he borrowed £4000 from his aunt Renee to cover it. McQueen met a number of his future collaborators at CSM, including Simon Ungless, a friend and later roommate.
CSM students at the master's level were expected to produce a graduation collection of at least six outfits as their thesis. McQueen told Hillson that he intended to present clothing that was distressed and stained, so the models would look like survivors of a violent attack. Although Hillson was dubious about the idea, she agreed to mentor him. Among other things, this meant quietly providing him with quality fabric from the CSM stores. He could not afford to buy his own, and lower-quality fabric would not have withstood the level of distressing McQueen was applying.
Students were required to provide a marketing report with their collections, outlining the rationale and business case for their designs. McQueen instead presented a narrative which described how his mother's study of genealogy led him to discover that a distant relative of his had owned an inn and rented a room to one of Jack the Ripper's victims, although his professors doubted the story. CSM professor Louise Wilson, with whom McQueen had a contentious relationship, told author Andrew Wilson that the cover of the report was decorated with McQueen's pubic hair. The report was, at some point, stolen from Wilson's office; she suspected that McQueen himself was responsible.
McQueen was not being shocking just to indulge himself. CSM's graduation shows were covered by the London press, and he wanted to exploit controversy to create publicity. This was a common tactic for London's young designers at the time. The country's fashion industry lacked infrastructure to support newcomers, forcing them to rely on extreme showmanship to draw media attention in the hopes of attracting financial backers.
Concept and collection The collection's narrative was inspired by the victims of 19th-century London serial killer Jack the Ripper, for whom it was titled. The show notes described Jack the Ripper as a "Day into eveningwear collection inspired by 19th century street walkers". McQueen took aesthetic inspiration for the garments from the fashion, erotica, and prostitution practices of the Victorian era. His tight tailoring and sculptural elements echoed the Victorian style of shaping the body with corsets and bustles. McQueen and Ungless had a mutual interest in the famous 18th-century sadomasochistic novel The 120 Days of Sodom and the 1975 film adaptation Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which played into the collection's brutal aesthetic. McQueen also drew on the 1985 novel Perfume, in which a genius perfumer becomes a serial murderer of young women.
McQueen also found inspiration in the work of other designers. McKitterick recalled him being "obsessed" with fellow British designer John Galliano, whose work was known for being creative and theatrical. Ungless disputes this to an extent, stating that McQueen disliked Galliano's designs, but wanted to outdo his achievements. To a lesser extent, McQueen looked to Helmut Lang and Martin Margiela, who were then experimenting with a minimalist style that was avant-garde when compared to the maximalist styles of the 1980s. He was also interested in the decadence and sexuality of Yves Saint Laurent.
McQueen translated what he had learned from his various jobs directly into the collection: tailoring from Savile Row, complexity from Tatsuno, fetishwear from Red or Dead, and a decadent aesthetic from Gigli. He combined historicist references to older styles such as frock coats with modern elements like asymmetrical pleating or twisted fabric, and played rich colours against transparent fabrics. The collection's palette was primarily black and deep red, with mauve and red fabric used for lining. Mauve is a Victorian mourning colour, while using red for lining may have been an echo of the appearance of human flesh within the body. Blood splatter was represented by red beads, yarn, and paint. The garments were distressed with burn marks and other damage. Some skirts were decorated with bricolage of photos from magazines, including a portrait of actor Johnny Depp. Feathers, gathered from Ungless's country home, were used as trim.
Several garments, including a pink frock coat, were lined with fabric which had human hair encapsulated within. For the clothing tag on the items, he encased locks of hair (claimed to be his own) inside of clear plastic squares. The use of human hair referenced several historical practices: keeping a lock of hair as a memento or trophy, the Victorian-era practice of prostitutes selling their hair, and the Victorian use of hair jewellery for mourning.
Runway show and discovery
Runway show At the time, CSM presented its graduation collections in a single show at London Fashion Week. That year, it was held at the Duke of York's Headquarters, London, on 16 March 1992; the day before McQueen's twenty-third birthday. Jack the Ripper was presented in the CSM show's second-to-last slot. The show was photographed by Niall McInerney. McQueen's mother Joyce and his aunt Renee attended the runway show. A few other attendees would have a significant impact on McQueen's career. Magazine editor and stylist Isabella Blow immediately found herself fascinated by McQueen's work. Jeweller Shaun Leane was invited to the CSM show by chance; he and McQueen later became friends and formed a long-standing artistic collaboration.
London artist Simon Costin loaned McQueen jewellery for the show, including his 1986 piece Memento Mori, made from bird claws, rabbit skulls, and synthetic jet stones. Other Costin pieces included a piece made with lacquered dried fish, another with dried baby iguanas and thrushes' wings, and a collar necklace made of preserved bird claws.
Students were expected to present a minimum of six outfits for a graduation collection; McQueen presented ten. The first outfit featured a black beaded bandeau with an asymmetrical cut, paired with dark red skintight trousers. The second was a shift in sheer black chiffon worn over a black bra and a black chiffon pencil skirt with feather trim, accessorised with a bird claw necklace by Costin. Next came a black satin frock coat with long pointed front panels and nothing underneath, worn over a photo collage hoop skirt; a tailored black jacket worn over a patchwork skirt; a red and black tunic dress over torn tights; a tailored pink silk frock coat with a print of black thorns designed by Ungless, over a black bra and black satin trousers; a black tailcoat with red lining, with nothing underneath, worn over black satin trousers trimmed with red beads; a sheer black open-back sleeveless top with tight black trousers, all trimmed with feathers; a black coat with a wasp waist and sharply jutting peplum, worn with a deep red beaded pencil skirt; and finally a sleeveless blouse in sheer dark red with black beaded epaulettes and high-waisted black satin trousers.
Discovery by Isabella Blow Isabella Blow insisted on purchasing the collection; McQueen later recalled her as "this nutty lady" who "wouldn't stop badgering me" about it. Despite her aristocratic heritage, Blow lived in genteel poverty, and was forced to pay McQueen in cash instalments. Blow described the arrangement in a 2005 interview: "He'd bring an outfit in a bin liner, I'd look at it and then he'd come to the cash-point with me."
How much of the collection Blow purchased and what she paid for what she bought are in dispute. Most sources say she purchased the entire collection. In her 2015 book Gods and Kings, journalist Dana Thomas reported that Simon Ungless told her, "with authority", that it was not the entire collection, although Thomas did not elaborate on how many items Ungless said Blow bought, or which ones. In a 2015 interview, Susannah Frankel also stated that it was not the entire collection.