The Dance of the Twisted Bull

British designer Alexander McQueen was known in the fashion industry for his imaginative, sometimes controversial designs.[1] His collections were strongly historicist, referencing and reworking historical narratives and concepts.[2] His fashion shows were theatrical to the point of verging on performance art.[3][4] The runway shows for his last two collections before The Dance of the Twisted Bull had both been in this mode: Voss (Spring/Summer 2001) was staged as a voyeuristic look inside a stereotypical insane asylum, while the set dressing for What A Merry-Go-Round (Autumn/Winter 2001) included an actual carousel ride.[5]

From 1996 to October 2001, McQueen was also – in addition to his responsibilities for his own label – head designer at French fashion house Givenchy.[6][7] His time at Givenchy was fraught, primarily because of creative differences between him and the label, and the press speculated that he would leave his contract early.[8] In 2000, before his contract with Givenchy had finished, McQueen signed a deal with Gucci, an Italian fashion house and rival to Givenchy, effectively daring Givenchy to fire him.[lower-alpha 1][10] Gucci bought 51 per cent of McQueen's company with McQueen remaining its creative director.[11] Twisted Bull was McQueen's first collection for his own label under Gucci.[12]

Woman dancing in a traditionally-styled flamenco dress with ruffles and polka dots, holding a manila shawl

A matador's elaborately decorated chaquetilla, part of the traditional bullfighting costume

The Dance of the Twisted Bull (Spring/Summer 2002) is the nineteenth collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It was inspired by Spanish culture and art, particularly the traditional clothing worn for flamenco dancing and bullfighting – traje de flamenca and traje de luces, respectively.[13][14] The romantic, feminine collection incorporated ruffled and polka-dotted flamenco dresses, ornamented short jackets in the vein of the matador's traditional chaquetilla, and sharply tailored suits, the latter a McQueen staple.[13][14][15] Some designs appeared to reference The Tailor's Pattern Book, a 1589 book of patterns by Spanish mathematician Juan de Alcega.[13][16] Other historicist elements included corsets, which appeared integrated into garments and as outerwear.[13][17] The collection's primary palette was red, black, and white.[18] The darker colours of some ensembles referenced the moody work of Spanish painter Francisco Goya, and architectural elements referenced Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí.[13] Writing in 2012, fashion historian Judith Watt noted that the collection's highly-feminine styling was in line with trends for 2002, although she also found a significant influence from sportswear.[19]

McQueen described his customer for Twisted Bull as a woman wanting to look sexy at a nightclub, and consequently the collection had sexuality front and centre.[16] Many outfits were styled to expose cleavage. Dresses were skintight, and some ensembles had cutouts exposing skin. On some runway looks, the breasts of the models were fully exposed.[13][15][20] The form-fitting cut of the trouser suits emphasised the bodies of the models, and the use of masculine elements for womenswear subversively played up the sexual attractiveness of the traditional matador in a way that is often sidelined in Spanish culture.[13][14][15] The juxtaposition of sexuality with violence and death and the tension between aggression and fragility were recurring themes in McQueen's work.[15][17][21]

The clothing in Twisted Bull was far more commercial than McQueen's typical designs, which tended to be more artistic than practical. Making the collection accessible and customer-focused was a business decision for McQueen, intended to drive sales for his first season with Gucci.[20][22] McQueen stated that the overt sexuality of the collection was explicitly intended to push sales, saying: "It's romantic and it's hot sex. That's what makes the world go around and it's what sells clothes too."[15][20] McQueen's commercial strategy seemingly paid off; Gucci president Domenico De Sole reported that the brand saw a 400 per cent increase in sales compared to previous collections.[23]

Jacket from Look 47 from the runway show, presented at Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2023 staging)

The runway show for Twisted Bull was staged on 6 October 2001, during Paris Fashion Week, at the headquarters of the Stade Français sports club in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.[lower-alpha 2][13][24] As a British designer, McQueen had always presented in London during London Fashion Week. Twisted Bull was the first collection he presented in Paris for his own label; afterward he showed all his womenswear collections there until his death in 2010.[12][25] The show was sponsored by American Express, which had sponsored McQueen several times.[26]

Production was handled by Gainsbury & Whiting, and Katy England was in charge of overall styling.[27] Headpieces were made by miliner Philip Treacy.[27] Makeup artist Val Garland, then with MAC Cosmetics, styled makeup for the models.[27][28] The look was dark and smoky, with a red, black, and grey colour palette that echoed the clothing.[13][19] Stylist Guido Palau was responsible for the hair, which was given a retro style reminiscent of classic pin-up models and rockabilly fashion.[19][29] The overall effect, according to Watt, was a grungy glamour that suggested the models had "crawled out of bed and thrown on something from the night before".[16]

Unlike many of his previous shows, the runway show for Twisted Bull was relatively mundane, with no complex set pieces or performance aspects.[13][20][30] Models entered and exited through a curtain of grey smoke at the rear of the stage, upon which video clips – flamenco dancing, bullfighting, and softcore pornography – were projected.[13][15] The soundtrack was a combination of electronic tracks, flamenco guitar music, and Björk songs.[13] Following the last model, the soundtrack changed to the sound of a woman moaning. A woman's face, apparently mid-coitus, was projected on the smokescreen. Her expression changed to one of fear, and the projection cut to a man swinging a sword. The smoke turned blood-red, and the models appeared en masse for a final turn.[18]

Dress from commercial release, presented at Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2023 staging) with headpiece by Michael Schmidt

The collection was generally well-received by British critics, who appreciated its more commercial designs.[20][30] Despite the low-key presentation, journalist Hilary Alexander called it a "powerful and passionate show".[15] John Davidson of The Glasgow Herald called the collection "truly polished" and agreed with McQueen's decision to forgo theatrics for the show, although he found the sexuality excessive.[30] An unbylined style brief in The Guardian criticised the appearance of drop crotch pants in the collection, describing them as "not a nice look".[37] The staff writer at Vogue España noted that the influence was a series of Spanish cultural clichés but called the collection a "perfect adaptation" to his brand's new home at Gucci.[38]

American critics were less impressed, particularly with the dressmaking. Writing for The New York Times, Cathy Horyn called the show "overwrought" and dismissed the style of the dresses as being like a "rigid satin party skirt of the 1950s genre".[39] American fashion editor Robin Givhan found the tailoring excellent but found the "dressmaking flourishes were too showy and indulgent".[40]

Critics called out Look 33, the spear-pierced dress, as the most significant look from the collection. American journalist Dana Thomas wrote that it was the collection's "most poignant look".[41] Journalist Jess Cartner-Morley called it one of McQueen's "classic show pieces".[14] Rebecca Lowthorpe of The Independent agreed, also calling out Look 14 for having a skirt which appeared to be made "entirely out of Spanish fans".[17][18] On the other hand, Davidson criticised the spear dress as "masochistic tromp l'oeil nonsense".[30]

McQueen revisited elements of the matador costume in Sarabande (Spring/Summer 2007), which featured a pair of black and white ensembles with ruffled shirts and embroidery reminiscent of Spanish blackwork. One outfit had tight trousers like the matador's taleguilla, and one had beadwork resembling their traditional braces.[48]

The Alexander McQueen archive retains ownership of Look 33, the spear-pierced dress.[33] This look appeared in both stagings of the retrospective exhibition Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, where it was one of only two pieces from Twisted Bull to be featured.[33][49] The other was Look 66, from the collection of Daphne Guinness: a beaded black jacket over beaded black jumpsuit, with a leather hat by Philip Treacy.[33] Look 33 was used again for "Dark Angel", a 2015 retrospective editorial of McQueen's work in British Vogue by British fashion photographer Tim Walker.[50] Several looks from Twisted Bull owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art appeared at the 2022 retrospective exhibition Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse. The collection was placed in the Evolution and Existence section of the exhibition, which highlighted collections focused on "life cycles and the human condition".[51]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Dance of the Twisted Bull.

• "Women's Spring / Summer 02: "The Dance of the Twisted Bull"". Alexander McQueen. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
• Alexander McQueen | Women's Spring/Summer 2002 | Runway Show on YouTube