On Friday, February 14, the New York Historical Society held a preview of a three-day pop-up installation of two dozen of the legendary Lee Alexander McQueen’s early designs. Titled Alexander McQueen: Off the Runway, the exhibit was curated by Ruti Danan, a former McQueen studio member, and John Matheson, an Alexander McQueen archivist. 

Danan worked as part of the Alexander McQueen Studio team during two years from 1994 to 1996. Her archive reflects a relentless dedication to preserving his legacy through expertise and personal account; a rare selection of items and memorabilia given to her during that time. When Ruti began working on the seminal Highland Rape, Hunger and Dante collections for the young, financially challenged McQueen, she received payment in original clothing from those early collections, together with some of the original patterns and mannequins.

The preview featured original catwalk designs from 1994 to 1996, including McQueen’s “Bumster” trousers and shocking “Highland Rape” collection, as well as his genre defying “Dante” show, which was a turning point in McQueen’s career that truly defined him as a designer. This marked the last time these one-off creations, which are among the rarest example of his early work, will be seen together before they are auctioned on February 22 by Bobby Livingston from the RR Auction who organized this installation.

Headquartered in Boston, RR Auction is a globally recognized auction house and one of the most trusted sources for rare documents, manuscripts, autographs, and historic artifacts. With more than 40 years of auction experience, RR has achieved record-setting prices in hundreds of legendary sales, including astronaut Dave Scott’s Apollo 15 Lunar Surface Chronograph watch, President Kennedy’s reporter diary from 1945, and author Truman Capote’s hand-notated manuscript for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”.