Lady Gaga is so, so back. Today, Mother Monster got back to her Mother Monster ways in a rare, 2000s vintage runway look from Alexander McQueen in a photoshoot she shared on Instagram. And not just any old vintage McQueen, that is—vintage McQueen sourced from the archives of one of the late designer’s most formidable muses.
Gaga slipped into an all-black outfit from McQueen’s fall 2002 show while posing in an Instagram post that could have been misinterpreted as a magazine editorial. While other celebs may source their archive pieces from vintage dealers or 1stDibs.com, Gaga goes straight to the source. Her floor-skimming cape, which created some major movement beneath her, belongs to the style icon socialite and heiress Daphne Guinness. The satin cloak featured ballooning statement sleeves and a floor-sweeping train. Gaga topped off her look with black hair and skinny trousers, a bold lip, and a Philip Treacy mask that also debuted as part of the same 2002 McQueen collection.
In a world where vintage fashion is commonplace amongst celebrities, wearing something from the closet of the OG McQueen muse is quite a power play on Gaga’s part. Guinness, of course, was a longtime pal of the late designer—and Treacy, for that matter—and quickly became a fixture of his front row alongside fellow McQueen muse Isabella Blow. Clearly, Guinness has amassed a museum-quality archive from her friendship with the designer (no, literally, it’s been displayed in museums).
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McQueen debuted this black cape on the Paris runways with an ab-baring top and a sequined pair of his signature low-rise trousers. Treacy also designed a matching headpiece in addition to the mask which Gaga, of course, sported in her re-creation.
“Archive Alexander McQueen F/W 2002/3 from the collection of the Hon. Daphne Guinness,” Gaga captioned her post.
Guinness last wore the early aughts runway piece publically back in 2018 during a Halloween party in London. Her heel-less pumps looked like something Gaga would love to wear, too.
Since the debut of her Chromatica Ball film, Gaga has been amping up her off-duty fashion (if archival McQueen is considered off-duty fashion, that is). For the movie’s premiere last week, she wore a literal car part on the red carpet and later teased what she would have picked out for this year’s Met Gala. And, with news of LG7 and her imminent Joker: Folie à Deux press tour, Gaga is bound to be pulling out some major fashion in the coming months. This archival McQueen cape, however, will be quite hard to top.