Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (Fashion Studies)

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For every heaven-sent gown come half a dozen that seem to have risen straight up from the underworld An authoritative and moving insight into the legacy of the British designer."—Carola Long, Financial Times (Christmas Books) an oversized art collection highly recommended for any college-level arts holding. . . . The most radical designs of his career are presented here, with critical analysis perfect for any arts or fashion library."— The Midwest Book Review The installation curated by Andrew Bolton at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is absolutely wonderful, astonishing, extraordinary! I would give this book five stars if it contained photographs from the actual installation -- raw concrete stages, aged mirrors, Cabinet of Curiosities room, etc. This 8.5 minute video will give you a good overview of the "experience": http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermc...

A captivating tribute to the designer’s most radical and beautiful creations. . . . I love all the detail shots which highlight the sheer intricacy of his work.”—Claire Brayford, Daily ExpressWhat do you think most contributes to the popularity and longevity of this book over the past decade? Featuring the most iconic and radical designs of his prolific career, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty examines the designer's evolution from the start of his fledgling label, to his years as creative director at Givenchy in Paris, and finally to the collections of his own world- renowned London house. It reveals how McQueen adapted and combined the fundamentals of Savile Row tailoring, the specialized techniques of haute couture—such as lacework, embroidery, and featherwork—and technological innovation to achieve his distinctive aesthetic. It also focuses on the highly sophisticated narrative structures found in McQueen's collections and in his extravagant runway presentations, which suggested the most avant-garde installation and performance art.

McQueen expressed this originality most fundamentally through his methods of cutting and construction. These were both innovatory and revolutionary. He was such an assured designer that his forms and silhouettes were established from his earliest collections, and remained relatively consistent throughout his career.London was the epicentre of McQueen’s world. The son of a taxi-driver, he grew up in the city’s East End and left school at 15 to become a tailor’s apprentice on Savile Row in Mayfair. In 1990 he joined the prestigious MA Fashion course at Central Saint Martins. Already a highly proficient and inventive tailor, here he learned how to be a fashion designer, drawing inspiration from London’s history, its world-class museums and emerging ‘Brit art’ scene. The collection was a meditation on the dynamics of power, in particular the dialectical relationship between predator and prey. McQueen’s reflections on primitivism were frequently represented in paradoxical combinations, contrasting modern and primitive, civilized and uncivilized. Typically, McQueen’s narrative glorified the state of nature and tipped the moral balance in favour of the ‘natural man’ or ‘nature’s gentleman’, unfettered by the artificial constructs of civilization. Like Byron, Beethoven, and Delacroix, McQueen is an exemplar of the Romantic individual, the hero-artist who staunchly followed the dictates of his inspiration. As a designer, he doggedly promoted freedom of thought and expression and championed the authority of the imagination.” I have always loved the mechanics of nature and to a greater or lesser extent my work is always informed by that.’ – Alexander McQueen