Fashion Beast by Alan Moore, Malcolm McLaren and Anthony Johnston
Twenty years after the concept was discussed by graphic novel guru Alan Moore and Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren Fashion Beast has arrived. Originally Alan Moore penned the idea as a screenplay in 1985 but after the idea was abandoned it was much later decided to turn the premise into a graphic novel.
As the world waits in fear of the potential nuclear winter there is one fashion institution that stands out as a thing of beauty against the everyday grime. Celestine is both the name of the label and the mastermind designer, unseen for many years. After a cruel twist of fate boyish looking Doll loses her job in a nightclub cloakroom and when she hears that Celestine is looking for new models she goes along with a small flicker of hope. She walks the catwalk and starts to be turned away by the two old ladies that assist Celestine but he taps on the glass from the blackened cubicle where he hides his hideous face and her world changes forever.
This twisted re-telling of Beauty and the Beast mashes together the darkness you’d expect from Alan Moore and the passion for fashion that Malcolm McLaren exuded. Set in an unspecified time they’ve managed to create a claustrophobic world where people only have fashion left to express themselves. Some live for it and others rage against it, protesting the one excess that’s left. With suicide, fashion and politics this makes for a fascinating and unique graphic novel.
Buy Fashion Beast by Alan Moore, Malcolm McLaren and Anthony Johnston