Alexander McQueen dead

[zalena]

He was only 40. One of fashion's up and coming designers. I looked forward to his collections every season! He loved staging these elaborate shows. There was the year his inspiration was They Shoot Horses, Don't They and the models danced down the runway in increasing disarray as the show proceeded. And his The Birds collection a few years back made a big splash. His designs were gorgeous, even without the arty production values, but I have to say it was the art-presentation that really made him stand out. One of his last collections mocked the recycling nature of fashion and featured mounds of trashbags and recycled material.

I am so upset by this! What is fashion coming to? We have these big conglomerates buying everyone up, there's uncertainty about the future of couture (my favorite aspect of fashion) and I hate to say it, but he really was the best and brightest designer that Britain had to offer.

Oh well, we still have Gaultier, Theyskens, and, of course, Francisco Costa.

The New York Times catches up with an obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/fashion/12mcqueen.html?hp

The 'They Shoot Horses Don't They' collection from Spring 2004:
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2004RTW-AMCQUEEN/

(They Shoot Horses... was the McQueen collection that caught my attention and first made me a fan.)

Josh Patner @ Slate groks McQueen. This is probably the most accurate and moving tribute, yet:
http://www.slate.com/id/2244626/

Comments

[averygoodun.livejournal.com]

I just saw an article about it and gasped. His designs were/are/were... they're amazing. He's one of the few designers I've seen in recent years who actually emphasizes and accentuates the feminine figure. It's very sad to see him go.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Oscar de la Renta loves, Loves, LOVES the female form. He is best known for his casual dresses which he designs regardless of whether or not dresses are in or out of style. Of course, he is tasteful and never outrageous like McQueen (who I considered taking up the mantle of Gaultier-style shock and genuinely well-made clothes), but he deserves the recognition he's earned.

You might like Theyskens, though his body of work is not big enough to really know what he's all about. And I suspect you might really like some of the Japanese designers, though I don't really know enough about them to point you in any particular direction.

Let's just say that the death of McQueen has caused a serious vaccuum in fashion.

[ng-nighthawk.livejournal.com]

It's like this is a completely foreign language. I really have no idea what you're talking about.

Never have I felt so gendered. :)

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure if there is a designer you could grok it would be McQueen, in part because he frequently alludes to film. His 'trash' collection of Fall 2009 features, among other things, 'Brazil' style make up.

Here's his Fall 2009 collection, the trash one. (I swear I posted about this collection, but I forgot to tag it, so I am having some trouble locating it.)

Here is video, because you really gotta see the way the clothes move and catch the light. Check the hounds-tooth fringe.

I'll see if I can find some stuff for The Birds---inspired by Hitchcock's film---which was a highly influential collection for the rest of fashion from the cut of the suits to a return of both feathers, net, and avian motifs, down to silkscreened shirts at Old Navy) and The Shoot Horses Don't They (also a classic film about Depression Era dance contests.)