Log #6

2017.05.09

Log #6

This week I read something related to my personalized project: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Art and fashion have always been where my passion lies in, and it cannot be truer especially when they combine each other.

I do not know if you have ever heard this guy before. Maybe you have seen his works without knowing that they were by Alexander McQueen. I would like to give you a brief introduction to this great fashion designer just in case you know nothing about him at all. I remembered that Prof. Lee has once said in class, "All the geniuses in the world are adept at just one field. Just one." McQueen was a genius in fashion.

(Alexander McQueen)

Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer. When he was little, he announced his intention to become a fashion designer. In order to achieve what he had set out to do, he served his apprentice with many experienced tailors, which earned him a reputation as an expert in creating impeccably tailored looks in later years.

McQueen was titled "the hooligan of English fashion" for his controversial works like the low-rise "Bumsters" trousers in his 1996 "Taxi Driver" fashion show.

("Bumsters" skirt)

In 1999, McQueen, as the chief designer at Givenchy, completed one of his most famous runway shows previewing Spring/Summer 1999, where the model in a strapless white dress being rotated slowly on a revolving section of the catwalk while being sprayed with paint by two robotic guns.

(Dress no. 13, Spring/Summer 1999)

(Model in No. 13 being sprayed with paint by two robotic guns)

McQueen committed suicide in 2010 at the age of 40. McQueen died nine days after his mother Joyce had died from cancer at the age of 75. McQueen's long-term assistant Sarah Burton was named as the new creative director of Alexander McQueen in May 2010.

McQueen's last appearance on a fashion show was in "Plato's Atlantis". McQueen was an avid scuba diver and used his passion as a source of inspiration in his designs. The inspiration for this Spring/Summer 2010 collection were nature and the post-human movement depicted by sea-reptile prints. The collection, named after Plato's island that sunk in the sea, addressed Darwin's evolution theories along with current global warming concerns. It forecasted a future in which humans had to evolve from earth to water to survive.

(McQueen's signature Armadillo shoe in "Plato's Atlantis")

McQueen has been credited with bringing drama, extravagance, and unconventionality to the runway. His achievements earned him four British Designer of the Year awards, as well as the CFDA's International Designer of the Year award in 2003. Not only did McQueen collaborate with some big brands in other fields like MAC, but he also dressed many celebrities like Lady Gaga.

This week I  focus only on who Alexander McQueen was. I will share quotes by McQueen, more details about the representative looks that I emotionally connected to, and  how McQueen and his works inspired me to realize my passion next time.

References (in APA 6.0 format)

Bolton, A. (2011). Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/