Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) was one of the most important British fashion designers of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries. He consistently pushed the boundaries of fashion with his visionary designs and their presentation in his spectacular catwalk shows.

This tailored wool and mohair jacket is from McQueen’s Spring/Summer 2001 collection Voss, which was one of the designer’s most celebrated. It is an excellent example of McQueen’s signature tailoring, with features such as the characteristic hard shoulder line. The design also demonstrates McQueen’s deep interest in Asian – and especially Japanese – culture, with details such as the obi-style sash, which is embroidered with chrysanthemum roundels in red and cream silk thread.

McQueen’s catwalk shows were fundamental to his visions for fashion. They often involved a mixture of elaborate storytelling, compelling theatre and raw emotion. Sometimes they incorporated performance art and avant-garde installations which intended to provoke strong reactions from the audience. Voss is one of the most important examples. Whereas the garments drew on the designer’s love of nature and the Far East, the staging of the collection was inspired by a psychiatric hospital. Presented in a large, glass cube made from two-way mirrors and with padded walls evoking a padded cell, the models, who were unable to see out of the cube, appeared trapped inside. The finale – a tableau vivant of Sanitarium (1983) by McQueen’s photographic artist, Joel-Peter Witkin- is singled out as McQueen’s most transgressive catwalk moment.