THE PERSONAL ARCHIVE OF JEWELLERY DESIGNER SHAUN LEANE 

COMMANDS $2.6 MILLION AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK

Dedicated Sale Led by Iconic Pieces Created by Shaun Leane 

for Alexander McQueen and The Honourable Daphne Guinness

Top Prices Driven by Bidding Battles Between Private Collectors 

and Institutions Vying for a Piece of Fashion History

Sotheby’s A Life of Luxury Auctions Continue This Week in New York

NEW YORK, 4 December 2017 – This evening in New York, Sotheby’s auction of Couture Fashion Jewellery: The Personal Archive of Shaun Leane totaled $2.6 million, outshining the sale’s high estimate of $2 million. The dedicated auction of over 40 works created by British jewellery designer Shaun Leane offered collectors and enthusiasts a unique opportunity to acquire pieces of fashion history – many of which debuted in Alexander McQueen’s runway collections from 1996 through 2008, and appeared in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum’s blockbuster retrospective of his work in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

The auction was led by the remarkable Coiled Corset, which more than doubled its high estimate when it sold for $807,000 after a bidding battle lasting more than five minutes. The Corset, created for McQueen’s Autumn/Winter 1999-2000 ‘The Overlook’ Collection, is the only piece from Shaun Leane’s near-20-year collaboration with the late designer that is signed by both visionaries.

Shaun Leane, Creative Director of the House of Shaun Leane commented: “The most beautiful part of this process for me is that these pieces have been admired, appreciated, and now accepted into new collections. I’m so happy to know that they will go on to inspire and provoke as they did the first day I created them.”

Kerry Taylor, Head of Sale in collaboration with Sotheby’s, said: “The prices achieved tonight reflect the brilliance of Shaun Leane in combination with the great Alexander McQueen, working together throughout the 1990s and 2000s when London was at its creative height. These impressive, unique showpieces are truly iconic, and deserved to reach these record results. They will join both private and institutional collections who will appreciate, preserve and display them for generations to come. Bidders competed tonight to own an important part of 20^th- and 21^st-century fashion history, with top prices achieved for runway pieces made from base metals – proving that the value in those works was for their superb design, rather than for fine materials.”

The Skeleton Corset was among the evening’s top lots, soaring over its $350,000 high estimate to achieve $711,000. Created for McQueen’s Spring/Summer 1998 ‘Untitled’ Collection, it was inspired by McQueen’s idea of taking the beauty of the human body’s internal structure, and turning it into an external adornment.

Created for The Honourable Daphne Guinness, the 'Contra Mundum' (Against the World) White Gold and Diamond Evening Glove fetched $312,500. Comprised of more than 4,000 diamonds, the stunning object, inspired by Guinness’s life-long fascination with amour, took Leane more than four years to complete and was featured on the cover of V Magazine’s V99 issue.

Other works that far outstripped their pre-sale estimates include the Coiled Collar – featured on the cover of Björk’s 1997 ‘Homogenic’ album – which commanded $243,750 (estimate $40/60,000). The Silver Crown of Thorns Headpiece, created for Alexander McQueen’s Autumn-Winter 1996-97 'Dante' collection, garnered applause from the room when it sold to a telephone bidder for $137,500 (estimate $40/60,000).