As we write this post the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is being devastated by a fire probably linked to the current renovation work at the site.
In the afternoon, as the fire burst through the roof, the main landmark spire collapsed, leaving people in tears. Damages are going to be significant as the entire wooden interior of the 12th century building may be completely destroyed.
A jewel of Gothic architecture, the cathedral was built in 1163, under the reign of King Louis VII. Largely completed by 1260, it was frequently modified in the following centuries.
The cathedral is known all over the world for its innovative use of the rib vault and flying buttress, the beautiful and colorful rose windows and its sculptural decorations, in particular the statues of dark and mysterious gargoyles populating its facade.
In the history of fashion the late Alexander McQueen could be considered as the designer with the most Notre-Dame like sensibility. His romantically dark and melancholic designs often pointed at death or reshaped the female silhouette into that of a mysterious creature, at times a bird, at others a monster-like superhuman being.
It is for example easy to find similarities between the black duck feather ensemble from "The Horn of Plenty" A/W 2009-10 collection with its nipped waist and ample shoulders (evoking maybe the shape of a raven and symbolising death) and some of the Notre-Dame gargoyles.
Sarah Burton at McQueen also evoked Notre-Dame moods in the stained glass windows prints on men's suits from the fashion house's A/W 13 collection. Fashion can't certainly console in these situations, but at the moment it feels like some of McQueen's designs perfectly embody the feelings of mourning for this architectural loss.
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