A Savage Beauty

The Costume Institute's gala at the Metropolitan Museum in New York is a fashion exhibition like no other. Each year, the world's media waits with bated breath to dissect the threads donned by the high-profile guests in attendance of each event, while the exhibition itself is one met with much anticipation. Next year's offering however, has already received a massive surge of interest as it was revealed today that they shall be celebrating the career of the late, great Alexander McQueen with an intimate retrospective entitled: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.

Taking place from May 4th through to July 31st, 2011, the exhibition will showcase all of his work, right from his Central Saint Martins postgrad collection from 1992, straight through to his final runway presentation unveiled shortly after his untimely death last February. The tribute will be an intimate portrayal of the iconic designer through his designs which have been categorized into a number recurring themes and concepts:

The Savage Mind will examine his subversion of traditional tailoring and dressmaking practices through displacement and deconstruction.
Romantic Gothic will highlight McQueen’s narrative approach to fashion and illuminate his engagement with Romantic literary traditions such as death, decay, and darkness. It will also reveal the main characters of his collections, including femme fatales and anti-heroes such as pirates and highwaymen.
Romantic Nationalism will look at McQueen’s fascination with the distant past.
Romantic Exoticism will examine his focus on distant places.
Romantic Primitivism will explore McQueen’s engagement with the ideal of the “noble savage.”

What's more, the exhibition will include videos of McQueen's runway presentations, reveal an assortment of “atavistic and fetishized objects,” including collaborations with Philip Treacy and Shaun Leane on display in a “Cabinet of Curiosities" and shall also feature an interview with Alexander McQueen's creative director, Sarah Burton. To accompany the exhibition, Costume Institute curators Andrew Bolton and Harold Koda are compiling a book, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty in homage to the designer.

When asked about the work of McQueen, Andrew Bolton puts it best; “Alexander McQueen was best known for his astonishing and extravagant runway presentations, which were given dramatic scenarios and narrative structures that suggested avant-garde installation and performance art. His fashions were an outlet for his emotions an expression of the deepest, often darkest, aspects of his imagination. He was a true romantic in the Byronic sense of the word — he channeled the sublime.”

Bringing It Home

Alexander McQueen has once again teamed up with The Rug Company to produce a collection of luxurious hand-crafted rugs. Featuring McQueen's trademark skulls motifs juxtaposed with opulent patterned designs, the rugs have already been showcased in LA and Toronto and will now be transported across to Hong Kong for a third exhibition. From today until the 14th of November, Hong Kong's Lane Crawford Pacific Place will display the collection before it jets over the rest of the world.

Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2011

On Sunday, Sarah Burton unveiled her much anticipated first collection as creative director at Alexander McQueen. The collection, which paid homage to McQueen, reworked his signature style with a subtle nod towards his penchant for theatrical tones and bold splashes of colour.

Overall, the collection exuded a certain aristocratic feel with belted waists, high-collars and morning suits featuring throughout. With a modern edge to the stylistic spirit of Savile Row, the collection makes a number historical references from World War 1 Tommies to Upper-crust Eaton Schoolboys. "This is the England of Alexander McQueen, a place of eclectic historical and cultural references", the fashion house said in a press release.




Shunning the usual glitzy affair in favour of a more subdued showcase; the presentation was, without question, a subtle and elegant tribute to the late, great Alexander Mc Queen:

www.alexandermcqueen.com

The CFDA Awards 2010

The CFDA Awards ended just a couple of hours ago, bringing this years proud winners.

Menswear Designer of the Year: Rag & Bone

Swarovski Menswear Designer of the Year: Richard Chai

International Award: Christopher Bailey

And a special CFDA Board of Directors' Special Tribute Award: Alexander McQueen

-Sarah Jessica Parker gave a tribute speech.

Patrik Ervell and Simon Spurr were among the nominees, which Seventh Man believes are all winners.

More news to come
All images taken by: NJD, during the F/W2010 Rag & Bone show

Alexander McQueen AW'10 Menswear Preview

7th Man Magazine was invited yesterday to preview the AW'10 Menswear collection by the late Alexander McQueen.

The AW'10 collection is his best yet in McQueen's history of Menswear - combining structural, sharp tailoring and shapes with beautiful textured knits. What was wonderful to see was how Lee had carried across his experiments and developments in fabric technology, prints and patterns (which he perfected so beautifully in his two most recent Womenswear collections) into the realm of Menswear.

The story of this AW'10 collection begins with the melting of the polar ice-caps, and its impact on the immediate environment and life that surrounds them, namely the fishermen and the polar bears and how they would cope in these harsh circumstances.

These themes manifest in magnificent ways through the use of fabric technology and prints: a dark fur print used on super soft brushed fabrics were made into tailored coats and hooded jackets trimmed in real fur, summon up images of menacing (Black?) polar bears; ice crack patterns were woven into metal jacquard jackets and trousers that look like crackling lightning on a thunderstorm night; oversized water droplet featured on coats and suits.

Balancing out these darker themes were beautiful pieces in a palette of soft greys: oversized cable knit patterns were printed on shirts and soft wool coats; large chainmail prints featured on leather pieces and on jersey polo necks (with intricate silver work in a Celtic theme embroidered on top at the shoulders - most impressive); the oversized cable knit patterns also transform itself into prints of regal crests and military braiding, suggesting the idea of armor and protection against the harsh elements of this story.

These fantastical patterns and effects are carried out through to all the accessories - from bags to wallets to gloves to belts and shoes.

From a distance, what looked like a worn/distressed effect on a pair of boots turn out, on closer inspection, to be a complicated pattern of skulls.

Among the many treasures within this collection were worn-out brogues and boots with a fully masted ship intricately and beautifully etched into the leather at the toes.

A beautifully crafted collection of romance and menace - the Perfect McQueen combination.

(Thank You to Myriam and Alistair who took me through the whole collection in such depth and detail!!)

www.AlexanderMcQueen.com

The AW10 McQueen Womenswear was also featured at the Press Day, and 7th Man Magazine had to share some images with you.

Dresses suitable for a Byzantine Goddess were created out of the softest and shiniest silk in statuesque prints with complicated beadwork.

Sculptural dresses were made in black, blood red and printed silk satin and damasks with gold embroidery.

The intricately crafted accessories were reminiscent of regal relics from the Byzantine period.