Alexander McQueen at the Met
Fashion in the extreme was the hallmark of the late British fashion designer Alexander McQueen (1969-2010). In pieces like his armadillo-shaped heels (worn by Lady Gaga) and a kimono that traps the arms like a straightjacket, Mr. McQueen embraced exaggeration, upended fashion conventions and grappled with paradox.
From May 4 to July 31, the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is presenting “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,” 100 ensembles and 70 accessories from the designer’s career that spanned 19 years and yet was cut tragically short. (He committed suicide early last year.)
Spring/summer 2010
Mr. McQueen’s designs often defied practicality: Why add antlers and a veil to an evening gown? Why make a dress out of feathers? “He felt his work was a social document that reflected the times in which we live,” said the exhibition curator Andrew Bolton. The designer was a master tailor, having worked in London’s Saville Row before attending design school at the city’s Central Saint Martins.
While his couture-level artistry was high concept, Mr. McQueen’s effect on fashion can still be seen on city streets. In 1995, he created a new shape for trousers, the “bumster,” that sat revealingly low on the hips. “The bumsters were extreme on the catwalk, but every girl from New York to L.A. to Paris is wearing them,” said Shelley Fox, director of Parsons the New School for Design’s graduate program Fashion Design and Society. “It’s that extremeness that pushes things forward.”