Also of interest: Savage Beauty, the McQueen exhibit at the Met. Of the exhibit, curator Andrew Bolton writes, "As you enter the exhibition, you’re faced with two mannequins—the two mannequins that I think represent many of the themes and ideas that McQueen revisited throughout his career: polarized opposites, whether it’s to do with life or death, lightness or darkness, predator/prey, man/machine...One of the most prevalent and ongoing themes in McQueen’s work was the Gothic, particularly the darker side of the nineteenth century, of Victorianism. Many of the pieces are inspired by the cult of death, and it’s also peopled with characters associated with the literary concept of the Gothic, like vampires, highwaymen, antiheroes, or Byronic heroes" Bolton goes on to discuss the daring innovation of McQueen's construction, McQueen's ability to achieve emotional intensity through his far-reaching historical references, and the honesty with which McQueen crafted the narratives in his work. At a first glance one might find the exhibit morbid, or even aggressive, but McQueen beautifully defends the power of the work himself in the quote, "I don't see it as aggressive. I see it as romantic, dealing with a dark side of personality."McQueen's passing marked the loss of one of fashion's great innovators, and left creative director Sarah Burton with some massive, and masterful shoes to fill, but fill them she has, and Coco is very pleased to report that she is still very much in love with the house of McQueen.
Read more about the exhibit here
