Alexander McQueen: Fashion Visionary

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fashion books and magazines. So when I received an email asking if I would be interested in looking at the upcoming Alexander McQueen book 'Fashion Visionary', of course I said yes!

The McQueen book that accompanied his New York exhibit is waiting patiently on my want list, but I already have the book that was released shortly after his death 'Alexander McQueen: Genius of a Generation'.

I do prefer this book to the one I already own. This seems to have taken a lot more time and care in researching McQueen's career (each collection has its own chapter, even the early, rarely photographed ones), and even has a forward by Daphne Guinness.
The book chronicles his career, from his upbringing in London to his final collection and the McQueen brand after his death.

It has a healthy balance of imagery, both iconic and rare, as well as going into great detail about the man behind the brand.

As you know I am all about the visuals, so here are my favourite pages.

//Emily

McQueen of hearts

I love the campaign for Alexander Mcqueen Fall 2011 (shot by David Sims with Raquel Zimmerman). I'm not quite as besotted as much as I was with Lindsay Wixson's campaign, but I love how the McQueen house always push the envelope and make real art pieces out of their campaigns, providing relief from all the bland ads about at the moment.

(via thefashionspot)

//Emily

“Fashion should be a form of escapism, and not a form of imprisonment.”
— Alexander McQueen

Marshmallow

Alexander McQueen Dress, photographed by David Sims.

//Emily

Madame Butterfly

I'm not normally one to spam so much campaign imagery, but I can't deal with how amazing this Lindsey Wixson & Alexander Mcqueen s/s 11 campaign is!
It's so ethereal and dreamy, I hope this runs in print too, as I would probably be tempted to purchase a magazine for the sole purpose of seeing this in the flesh...
Lindsay Wixon is packing some SERIOUS campaigns. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with!

(via thefashionspot)

//Emily

Normally I compile the images that inspire me each week, however, considering the circumstances this week, the scrapbook will comprise of some of the imagery which I felt personally connected to in Alexander McQueen's work. You can view his collections by season fully on style.com.

Whilst at Givenchy, his most famous collection featured robots spraying a cotton dress. McQueen left the fashion house in 2001.






“People ignore the ugly things in life but within this they are missing the beauty that lies under the rotten fruit.” - Alexander McQueen

His autumn/winter 2006-7 collection was dedicated to McQueen’s close friend Isabella Blow who had comitted suicide months earlier. It featured a hologram of Kate Moss as a finale.








“The show shouldn’t overshadow the clothes and vice versa. There always must be some sort of interaction with the audience to get the message across that’s going through your mind. The one show in which that was key was the Asylum show, with the padded cell. It’s good to leave the audience in bewilderment.”






















































” When I was in Paris I tried to mold in with this concept of couture and this
hierarchy, but it’s just not me. I can’t play that game. I think it
looks stupid when designers play these bourgeois characters. At the end
of the day, I’m left with the real me. What you see is what you get.”

Alexander McQueen