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“You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.”

—Alexander McQueen

On Monday, August 1st at 2 pm, CAAL Members and their guests had the opportunity to skip the long lines and enjoy a guided tour of what is arguably this summer’s greatest “marvel” (New York Times): Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This granted CAAL members a chance to view McQueen’s works of art in their final week on view at the Met on the museum's special viewing day.   

The New York Times calls the exhibit, "a button pushing marvel: ethereal and gross, graceful and utterly manipulative, and poised on a line where fashion turns into something else."

The exhibition, organized by The Costume Institute, celebrates the late Alexander McQueen’s extraordinary contributions to fashion. From his Central Saint Martins postgraduate collection of 1992 to his final runway presentation, which took place after his death in February 2010, Mr. McQueen challenged and expanded the understanding of fashion beyond utility to a conceptual expression of culture, politics, and identity. His iconic designs constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion. The exhibition features approximately one hundred ensembles and seventy accessories from Mr. McQueen’s prolific nineteen-year career. Drawn primarily from the Alexander McQueen Archive in London, with some pieces from the Givenchy Archive in Paris as well as private collections, signature designs including the “bumster” trouser, the kimono jacket, and the three-point “origami” frock coat are on view. McQueen’s fashions often referenced the exaggerated silhouettes of the 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, and 1950s, but his technical ingenuity always imbued his designs with an innovative sensibility that kept him at the vanguard.

Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce