>> From Showstudio:
At the climax of Alexander McQueen’s shown tonight, the lights went down to reveal a modern reworking of a nineteenth century optical illusion: Pepper’s Ghost. An illusion used by fairground hucksters and pierside attractions, these were pre-film entertainments that used ‘smoke and mirrors’ to amaze and in some cases terrify crowds. Tonight, a large cruciform structure (with secret screens embedded under each of its ‘arms’) stood over a glass pyramid, whose glass facets were positioned to reflect the screens above them. The lights dimmed and an apparition of Kate Moss dressed in fluttering organza appeared as if in mid air: she grew to full size, spun and rotated to the delight of the roaring audience. After a minute of sheer technological wizardry, the image shrank from view and Kate tantalisingly disappeared into a tiny cluster of oscilating firefly lightbeams and was gone.
