The world lost a skilled and visionary artist when British couturier, Central St. Martins graduate and enfant terrible, Alexander McQueen took his own life in February 2010. McQueen said farewell to the Veil of Tears after his own mother died. Only a handful of days separated their deaths.
McQueen is still palpable to his admirers, which is why the release of the catalog of 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,' his retrospective at the Met early this summer, is so astounding. It features pieces from his collection dating back 20 years, ingenious designs that flitted out of short term memory yet caused a sensation when they hit the catwalks of Paris. McQueen's successor, Sarah Burton, is quoted heavily in the catalog. Here she recounts a McQueen show from the late 1990s:
One of the most memorable collections from those days was for fall 1999, "which involved a model in a Perspex robotic body," Burton says via NYmag.com. "The guy who made the robot told us ten minutes before the model walked out, 'If she sweats in the suit, she's going to electrocute herself. So tell her not to sweat.'"
“Every collection began with a show,” Burton adds, citing McQueen’s ability to design in complete looks, including hair, makeup and shoes. “Shoes were really important because they anchored the look. The ‘Armadillo’ shoe from spring 2010 ‘Plato’s Atlantis’ collection was based on a ballet point shoe designed by Allen Jones. They were actually quite comfortable to walk in, but if a girl couldn’t walk in them, she wasn’t in the show.”
The exhibit will detail McQueen’s career over the past 20 years and is so potent and jarring, it reminds of us McQueen's genius, his strength, his love of materials and the marriage of beauty with vulgar ugliness, as well as what could have come had he lived.
The show runs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume institute and will be open to the public from May 4th to July 31st. After the break, images from the catalog which is available here.
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Flowy Shreds Dress by Alexander McQueen.
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Red Tassel Dress by Alexander McQueen.
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Green Face Dress by Alexander McQueen.
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Alien Shoe by Alexander McQueen.
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Black Feather Dress by Alexander McQueen.
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Butterfly Dress by Alexander McQueen.
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Corset by Alexander McQueen.
