Several years before issue 58 came to be, Alexander “Lee” McQueen came to the Visionaire office to discuss collaborating on an issue that ultimately never happened. One day, the staff was discussing a potential issue printed on seeded paper, and the next day, news came that McQueen, one of the most brilliant creative minds of our time, had passed away. The team took this as a sign and dedicated SPIRIT to him. The issue set out to commemorate McQueen’s life and career by publishing the imagery that had defined it. From the iconic Nick Knight image of Devon Aoki with a pin through her forehead to the haunting Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin portrait of the designer himself, SPIRIT amassed photographs that, like McQueen and his revolutionary fashion, were completely unforgettable. Mario Sorrenti collaborated with fashion editor Camilla Nickerson producing a photo — based on the sacrificial lamb — that current Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burton describes as “incredibly moving” and “powerful yet heartbreakingly fragile.” Printed onto pulp paper embedded with seeds, the issue could be planted to transform into a garden of wildflowers — a statement about the transience of life and fashion that honored the designer’s vision.
