McQueen

Director: Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 3.0

British designer Lee Alexander McQueen spent forty years of life on this planet, making many remarkable articles of clothing, and interviews with him, his Mom and his friends and colleagues are structured around five of his best runway shows (starting with Jack the Ripper as an influence and, later on, looking to the future). The directors clearly admire their subject, bringing up some of his flaws, like his impulsiveness (and how he treated Isabella Blow), but seem to swerve around McQueen's lifestyle away from the atelier, so when his long-time assistant Sebastian Pons reveals Lee was HIV+ it hits like a bombshell ... and then they move past the topic as if it was too taboo to discuss further. That misstep aside, it does its job of celebrating the man for his mastery of his craft and eagerness to be the 'bad boy of fashion' - Lee said that he couldn't foresee his brand existing without him, but it's still there (and just as expensive as ever).