Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood Portraits Go On Sale

Stunning portraits of fashion icons Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood as Shakespearian characters have gone on sale at London’s Zebra One Gallery to celebrate Fashion Week.

The large portraits are part of a series of fashion designers and models re-imagined as characters from the Bard’s most famous works, painted by illusive masked artist Mason Storm. Another striking portrait from the series depicts a male model painted as a modern-day Henry V.

The two remarkable oil on canvas pieces are on display at the Hampstead-based gallery – famed for its celebrity clientele including George Clooney, Liam Gallagher, Kate Moss, Dynamo, Natalie Appleton, Damien Hirst and The Prodigy’s Liam Howlett.

The anonymous artist known as Mason Storm, who is renowned in the art world for working in his trademark balaclava said: “I always saw Alexander McQueen as a sort of tragic prince in the fashion world. His suicide was a terrible loss, and I see parallels with his story and that of Hamlet’s. ‘To be or not to be, that is the question.’”

“Dame Vivienne Westwood has always been a rebel, one of a kind, and an incredibly strong woman. She led the way for so many others and single-handedly pioneered punk fashion. And so I likened her to Lady Macbeth, who is ambitious, powerful and ruthless.”

The fascinating incognito artist is also a practising barrister and a self defence instructor, who grabbed headlines in 2010 when he declared that he would reveal the face of Banksy in an oil painting. 

The London art hub, Zebra One Gallery, will exhibit the pieces throughout fashion week. Gallery owner and art consultant Gabrielle du Plooy said: “These enormous portraits are absolutely spectacular. They’re like old masters – colourful, rich and mesmerising.

I’m thrilled to be able to exhibit them to celebrate Fashion Week, but also to commemorate five years since the world lost a fashion icon – the great Alexander McQueen.”