Gods and Kings

Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano by Dana Thomas

In the last week of February, after selling some items at Buffalo Exchange in Fullerton, I stopped by Half Off Books. Second hand book stores are my favorite because their selection is never the same and their prices are unbeatable! Most books sell for under $10. That's pretty fantastic.

I wandered through the aisles stopping here and there to read the spines of books hoping to find one that'll catch my interest. The title Gods and Kings made me stop. I pulled out the book and saw Alexander McQueen and John Galliano on the cover. There was no question about it, this was the book I'm taking home.

Today, the names of these men are synonymous with luxury. They are two of the most influential designers in the world. John Galliano designed for Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen for Givenchy WHILE also designing for their own namesake lines. Their labels are catered for the wealthy and fashion obsessed. I'll admit that before I read this book, my knowledge of who they were and their story was only at the very basic level. I knew that they both designed clothing. I knew that John Galliano was the creative director for Christian Dior for a while until he made some anti-Semitic remarks. I knew that Alexander McQueen had his own label and that his Spring 2010 RTW (ready-to-wear) collection was an extremely monumental moment in fashion history and that he had passed away. Everything in between what I knew, I learned about in this book.

I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I didn't think I would be so into it because I have a hard time continuously reading just one book. I normally float around to several others in my rotation and it does take a while for me to finish something, unless I'm really into it. The last book I read with this much tenacity was Phil Knight's Shoe Dog. Dana Thomas did a really great job of telling the story of each men. Nothing felt excessive or too little information regarding a certain event. She also added in some fashion history, as needed, as well as how the globalization of fashion houses began. I really like books that present the history of things in a way that is easy to follow.

Art by John Paul Thurlow

I honestly would have never thought in a million years that I would be so personally affected by McQueen's life story. I felt such a connection to how he used anything and everything he was inspired by to make his clothes. The act of combining things from different outlets like film, photography, history, literature to name a few- to create clothes that are beautiful is something I admire. His inspirations and ideas often times came from dark places... But he just saw the beauty underneath it all. He said that his work is the story of his life and that if you wanted to get to know him, all you had to do was look at the clothes he designed. I also really loved how he collaborated with many different people to fulfill his creative visions. He chose people he admired to work and collaborate with, often times giving them the full capacity to bring their inspirations to life. He also often worked side by side with the ateliers during his time at Givenchy. This behavior was not common since most fashion houses operated within strict hierarchal structures. To me, this shows the trueness of his character.  He never saw himself as different from those in his team. They were all working with the same passion. There's no doubt that he worked extremely hard for everything he had in his life but the excess of the fashion industry slowly stripped it all away from him. It would be naive to think McQueen didn't play a part in his own destruction but it still sits heavy in my heart knowing that he decided to take his own life... This left a lot of people shocked. In the McQueen documentary, it was said that the more money he had, the less happy he was. Which is not to say he didn't utilize the money he did have to live his version of a lavish life. But it just goes to show that time and time again.. when something is missing, money cannot always fill that void. I wish things went differently for him.. Although I must say, it is kind of fitting how he created all this beauty to share with the world and his last act was destruction. The trajectory of his life seemed to follow that theme. I hope that he is living in eternal peace and that he is proud of everything he's accomplished because his legacy is powerful.

So it's obvious I really favored the McQueen part of the book 😅 But how about Galliano's?

Art by Daria Usova

Well... I will admit that my own personal design aesthetic is very similar to his style. Galliano took a lot of the past and recreated them with even more drama. He endured a lot of criticism during his tenure at Christian Dior because he constantly produced over the top runway shows with clothes that were undoubtedly beautiful but unwearable for the modern woman. Now the funny thing is that, both McQueen and Galliano graduated from Central Saint Martins and achieved instant success right after they graduated but Galliano's trajectory was much more inflated. He pretty much abandoned who he was and became this over the top person that no one had the power to control. No one ever said no to him. And it showed. It really bothered me that once Galliano became the creative director for Dior, he essentially stopped any sort of technical work to contribute to his collections. I guess he really took his position to heart. And head. He always just told people what to do but never lifted a finger. I mean, that sounds like the dream job though right? Even though his life was filled with opulence, he also went through the same mental hardships McQueen endured due to the stress of their high profile positions. Like I mentioned, no one really had the power to control Galliano. His behavior just kept snowballing until he had that rage filled outburst that completely ruined his career. That was a shocking moment not only for the industry but for the world. You don't just wake up the next day and expect all of it to go away with an apology. Galliano's life, up until that point, showed me that there will always be a huge disconnect to how we choose to view the world versus how it really is. We all have our vices that add and subtract to the reality of life but in the end, we have no control of how anything will play out. I don't hate Galliano... I just can't find anything I like about him, even though he's given the world countless versions of his illustrious fantasies. I do respect what he's done for Dior and now what he's doing for Maison Margiela.

As sad as this is to say, the bottom line has always been it's just business. This is what Dana Thomas ended the 380 page book with. It's just business. With every new level of their career, Thomas included the business side of things and how things developed for the designers. It blows my mind to see how family owned fashion houses became huge monopolies for corporations. The profits became the priority and oftentimes left passion and purpose at the door.

If there's one thing I could take away from this great book, it would be... A luxurious life isn't always about the grand fashion shows and beautiful clothes, many times its simply about having your peace of mind.