The Girl Who Lived in the Tree is the thirty-second collection by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, released for the Autumn/Winter 2008 season of his eponymous fashion house. The primary inspirations were British culture and national symbols, particularly the British monarchy, as well as the clothing of India during the British Raj. The collection was presented through the narrative of a fairy tale about a feral girl who lived in a tree before falling in love with a prince and descending to become a princess.
The collection's runway show was staged on 29 February 2008 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. The round stage was dressed in black with a black backdrop, with a large artificial tree in the centre wrapped in dark grey silk; it was inspired by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who were known for wrapping buildings and landmarks in fabric. The presentation was divided into two phases to represent the girl's story; forty-two looks were presented in total, with twenty-three in the first half and nineteen in the second. In the first phase, the ensembles were all in black and white, with most looks having a slim, tailored silhouette. The clothing from the second half was richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transformation into a princess.
Critical response to The Girl Who Lived in the Tree was positive, and in retrospect it is regarded as one of McQueen's best collections. Academics have analysed its inspiration and styling through various lenses. The peacock headpiece by Philip Treacy and a dress with lace peacocks attracted particular critical attention and further analysis. Garments from the collection are held by various museums and have appeared in exhibitions such as the McQueen retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. The 2015 semi-biographical play McQueen incorporates ideas from the collection's narrative.
Background British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was known 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 learned tailoring as an apprentice on Savile Row, and dressmaking as head designer at French fashion house Givenchy. Although he worked in ready-to-wear – clothing produced for retail sale – his showpiece designs featured a degree of craftsmanship that verged on haute couture.
McQueen's graduation collection, Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims, was bought in its entirety by magazine editor Isabella Blow, who became another mentor and his muse. Their relationship was turbulent, and they had been estranged when Blow committed suicide in May 2007. Despite their differences, McQueen was devastated by her death. For his next collection, McQueen worked closely with Irish milliner Philip Treacy, one of his longtime collaborators and another of Blow's protégés. The collection, La Dame Bleue (Spring/Summer 2008), was dedicated to Blow's memory. Afterward, McQueen travelled to India for a month with his friend and collaborator Shaun Leane. He later described the trip as a "pilgrimage" during which he had worked through his grief by absorbing Buddhist spiritual teachings and culture.
McQueen was devoted to his Scottish heritage, but also felt a strong connection to England, especially London, where he had grown up. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003. Although he had previously been vocally critical of the British monarchy, and was reluctant to accept the award, he later said that meeting the queen had been "like falling in love".
Concept and collection
The Girl Who Lived in the Tree (Autumn/Winter 2008) is the thirty-second collection McQueen made for his eponymous fashion house. The collection was presented through the narrative of a fairy tale about a feral girl who lived in a tree before falling in love with a prince and descending to become a princess. According to McQueen, this story was inspired by an ancient elm tree in the garden of his country home in Farleigh, England, and the girl represented Queen Elizabeth II as a young woman. McQueen's biographer Dana Thomas said "it seems he had truly fallen in love" with the Queen. Author Judith Watt felt that the fairy tale story reflected McQueen's romantic innocence and "stemmed back to childhood days". Although it was one of his most nationalist collections, journalist Susannah Frankel felt it contained elements of "irony and pastiche", and McQueen joked that he had picked the royal theme for selfish reasons: "I thought, I'll do this thing on the Queen, and I'll get the knighthood. I'll become Sir Alexander McQueen."
The visual aesthetic of the collection was inspired by British culture and national symbols, particularly the British monarchy, as well as the clothing of India during the British Raj. McQueen cited the Duke of Wellington in the show notes, and there were military influences in the form of tailcoats and decorative frogging. He also drew heavily on the clothing he had seen in India with Leane, incorporating lush embroidery, jewelled headdresses, jutti (slippers resembling ballet flats), and the printed silk fabric used for saris. Primary fabrics included brocade, duchesse satin, silk, and velvet. Real semiprecious stones were used for embroidery and embellishment. The collection was unusually feminine compared to McQueen's usual work, which typically had a harder edge.
The designs were divided into two broad phases, which followed the girl's journey out of the tree. The clothes from the first half represented the girl's feral state, taking inspiration from punk fashion to create a style which McQueen called "punk princess". These looks were entirely black and white, with a slim silhouette accentuated by a cinched waistline. McQueen largely confined his ever-present tailored garments to this half of the show, although dresses and flounced ballerina skirts also featured here. Decorative embellishments in this phase included leather, crystals, lace, and silver printing. Grey-based tartan referenced McQueen's Scottish heritage.
The clothing from the second half was richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transformation into a princess. The military elements were echoed here with regimental-style jackets and gold frogging. The skirts of the later dresses were exaggerated with crinolines, referencing the haute couture gowns Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies each designed for Elizabeth II in her youth. Footwear in this phase was similar to heavily-beaded shoes designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior in the 1950s.
Imagery of birds, wings, and feathers were a recurring theme in McQueen's work. In The Girl Who Lived in the Tree he focused on the peacock, India's national bird, which is culturally associated with beauty, grace, and love. He asked Irish milliner Philip Treacy to create a peacock headpiece for the collection; as usual his creative brief was simple and gave wide latitude for interpretation. Treacy used driftwood to build the bird's body and sea fan coral for its tail; he recalled McQueen being "speechless" when he saw it.
Runway show
Production details The runway show was staged on the evening of 29 February 2008 at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. It was the final show of the day. The invitation card featured an etching of a tree on gold-coloured paper on the outside, and on the inside, an image of a girl whose hair was mixed with tree branches. McQueen personally invited Bobby Hillson to the show as a gesture of gratitude for her mentorship. On the same day of the show, McQueen announced that his label was finally making a profit.
Tabitha Simmons took care of overall styling, Paul Hanlon handled hair, and Peter Philips styled make-up. Gainsbury & Whiting oversaw production. Joseph Bennett returned for set design.
The soundtrack opened with orchestral versions of the Nirvana songs "Come as You Are" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The second phase transitioned into classical music by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Catwalk presentation The round stage was dressed in black with a black backdrop, with a large artificial tree in the centre wrapped in dark grey silk, which McQueen said was "for a feeling of protection". The fabric extended from the base of the tree to cover the entire stage. The wrapping was inspired by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who were known for wrapping buildings and landmarks in fabric for their large-scale, site-specific art installations.
Forty-two looks were presented in two phases. Looks 1 to 23 were entirely black and white, representing the girl in her feral state. During this phase, the tree in the centre was illuminated blue. Models' hair was aggressively backcombed and puffed out sideways from their heads, and their eyebrows were dark and strongly defined. Otherwise, make-up used a nude palette. Dresses tended toward what Thomas called a "Victorian gothic" look. There were several tailored ensembles featuring frock coats and trousers, which author Judith Watt found reminiscent of dandies from the British Regency era. The dark aesthetic reminded author Katherine Gleason of the main character in the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands.
Following Look 23, the lights went down, except on the tree. The stage was briefly empty while the lighting on the tree transitioned to yellow, indicating the start of the second phase. Looks 24 to 42 were richly coloured, with luxurious materials and embellishments, representing the girl's transition into royalty. Silhouettes here resembled the 1950s New Look, with tight waists and exaggerated skirts. Models were styled with antique gem-encrusted necklaces, headpieces, and earrings lent by the New York branch of The Gem Palace of Jaipur, India, a long-standing high-end jewellery atelier. The shoes in this phase were embellished ballet flats, an unusual style for a high fashion runway show. The hair and make-up were more elegant, although with a slight "punk" edge – chignons were placed at the top of the head rather than the nape of the neck, and had hair sticking out at the top, for example. Gold-toned eyeshadow and highlighter matched the decadence of the jewellery and clothing.
Notable ensembles Look 10 was a black dress styled with Treacy's peacock headpiece. Look 20, sometimes referred to as the "snowflake dress," was a black mid-length dress with ballerina skirt, fitted with an overlay of black leather laser-cut into snowflakes, set on a background of white silk. Look 22 was a full-skirted dress in black with a white print of a tree. Look 23, the "peacock dress," was similarly full-skirted, in white with a pair of black lace peacocks facing one another on the front and the back. Gleason felt their positioning indicated "courtship and romance".