Present and presences in the late 20th-century art and fashion: Alexander McQueen and Rachel Whiteread’s ghosts

Abstract

Past and present coexist in the creations of the fashion designer Alexander Mc-Queen and in the works of the contemporary artist Rachel Whiteread. McQueen reflected on the relationship between past and present and on the dehumanization of contemporary society. Similarly, Rachel Whiteread focused on physical and intimate spaces, deprived of human presence. This essay analyses contemporary art and fashion together, as two contemporary expressive forms of the tumult and anxieties of 20th-century London.