Currently viewing the tag: "alexander mcqueen"
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Jessica Chastain
Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous. Jess, over here, nailed it. Dressed in an Armani Privé gown, Christian Louboutin shoes and jewelry by Harry Winston, this Jessica Rabbit look-a-like is everything Hollywood glamour is about– grace and poise with flair. Now, if this was just a dress contest, it would probably land her on the borrow list but– my oh my– is that style execution or what, my friends?! Continue reading »
Most bridge labels are lackluster, downmarket attempts at capitalizing on a brand’s recognition in the marketplace. McQ, the lower-priced label from Alexander McQueen, is anything but. One visit to the label’s tumblr and it’s clear: this line is every bit as artful as its much-pricier counterpart.
With the winter months fast-approaching, I’m in full advocating-for-heels-in-snow mode [for those who would inquire, I've moved my many pair of Beatle Boots to the front of my closet, all with two-inch lifts...].
First up, this McQ two-tone bootie. Sturdy heel, textured outsole and an incredible combination of black and rich brown polished calfskin. In short, it’s the kind of shoe wardrobe staple that can take you through the entire season.
GET IT HERE.
When I walked into Leslie Thornton’s solo show at Winkleman Gallery earlier this year, I could tell in the blink of an eye that this would be my favorite exhibition this trip through the Chelsea galleries. Thorton’s exhibition, titled “Binocular”, showed a series of videos that had two circles within each frame. The first circle played a real time video of an animal in the wild, the second, a kaleidoscope image of that video, where the frame was refracted and multiplied numerous times using a remapping algorithm.
These images immediately evoked the current trend in textile manufacturing, specifically, Alexander McQueen’s Spring 2010 RTW show. The minute swishing back and forth of the fabric worked similar to Thornton’s video works, in that even the tiniest move of the animal caused the whole image to alter substantially. McQueen’s extreme attention to detail ensured that his dresses would change dramatically with movement, and their cinematic and spectacle quality make it near impossible to wrench yours eyes away.
Both McQueen’s gorgeous dresses and the video work of Thornton show an interest in the natural and organic – an interest that is subsequently warped via technology. That being said, Thornton’s show was over a year after McQueen’s, and was viewed through a completely distinct lens. Where McQueen’s show instigated discussions surrounding horror and sci-fi films, global climate change and the impending end of the world, Thornton’s leaned more to the metaphysical side, provoking comparisons to Buddhist Mandalas, Rose windows, and other central core forms with spiritual associations.
My questions to consider are these: in a world where art is typically considered higher than fashion, what happens when it is clear that a trend in fashion has clearly inspired and stimulated the work of an artist? The fracturing of an animal’s body in order to reinterpret the idea of an ‘animal print’ is one thing, but what can one say once this idea is put into an art historical context? Is it imperative that these ideas are addressed in these two realms separately?
I feel that although these two forms of expression can clash on many levels, it is important that they exist in conversation with one another, for they frequently resonate and inform one another in intangible ways. I appeal to you all to treat both with equal respect, for creativity’s outlets are numerous and should not be situated within any hierarchy.
We’ve waited, and it is here. No, we still have weeks to go before New York Fashion Week Spring 2012 and we must hold on yet one more day to see our local favorite, David Chum, wow Heidi Klum and friends on the season 9 premier of “Project Runway.” Sadly, I’m referring to the will of the great, late fashion designer Alexander McQueen…
- £250,000 [$410,000] to each of his three sisters and two brothers
- £50,000 pounds [$82,000] to each of his housekeepers, his godson, his nieces, and his nephews
- £50,000 [$82,000] for the continual care of his dogs, Minter, Juice and Callum
- £100,000 [$164,000] each to the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and the Blue Cross Animal Welfare Charity, two charities that provide care for abandoned animals
- £100,000 [$164,000] each to the London Buddhist Center and the Terrence Higgins Trust, both of which promote sex education and sexual health.
The designer left the remainder (and majority) of his £16 million [$26 million] estate to his charity, Sarabande, named after his Spring/Summer 2007 collection best remembered for look number 46: an English country garden-style dress made entirely of fresh flowers. He requested that some of the money be used for scholarships at London’s Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design, his alma mater.
McQueen’s will serves as further reminder that there is much to be missed in his passing: his impact on the world of fashion and his unbridled artistry, of course, but also, his compassion and his generous heart.
I am not a blogger, a fashion writer, a TV producer, a creative director for a fashioncentric creative services agency. I am not defined by my occupation. This is not a declaration of truth, it is a statement of intent.
This past weekend, I spent over four hours catching up on Tavi’s blog. And while nearly everything that precocious girl writes is compelling, one post in particular lingered with me long after I had finished reading. In it, she describes her struggle with beauty image, her rebellion against the au courant standards indirectly imposed on her by the industry of which she is fascinated. She realized that, despite her best efforts at bucking the conventional constructs, she may be growing into a position among those considered ‘attractive’. And it frightened her. Made her worry at what pieces of her she would leave behind, whether she would end up being known as the once-opinionated-ugly-ducking-who-is-now-’just-another-pretty-girl-in-Fashion.’
The piece struck me because I face a similar struggle: the marginalizing effect of being defined by my looks and by my occupation, and forever wondering at the true extent to which people think of me as just another two-dimensional iteration of the ‘fashionfolk’ archetype. Am I really drowning in the shallow end? Am I simply obsessed with pretty things? Have I lost my curiosity for the world and for art and replaced it with something less… substantial? These are very real questions. Continue reading »
Black and white. Two colors that, both together and separately, never go out of style. That fact, added to an exaggerated shawl collar and a classic silhouette, makes this the perfect throw-over-anything piece for Fall.
GET IT HERE.
If this W article, penned by Christa D’Souza, is any indication, the so-called “no pooing” is gaining mainstream. No doubt practiced by that surly, smelly roommate of yours who was really into Ani Difranco (I can’t be the only one whose had one of these right?), “scrofulous college students” (D’Souza must have known that girl too), these guys, and other unseemly characters it’s easy to see how “no poo” would get pooh poohed by any lady who doesn’t fancy wearing dreads or living in a cave (metaphorically or literally). But as another alleged no poo-er has said, “The times they are a-changin,” and if it is true that industry pros like Guido Palau, the hair guru behind this stunning editorial, are advocating it, one might have to consider renegotiating her position.
Shall I confess to you now that I’ve been “no pooing” for six months (six weeks is nothing)? OH SNAP. It’s true.
Though a diehard product junkie, I’m also not one to turn my nose up at something that could add much needed life to my naturally curly locks, and simplify my daily beauty regimen (giving me more time for more fun parts… even if it might smell). Besides, I’ll try pretty much anything once. It’s worked out pretty well so far and no one’s complaining. (Editor’s note: I complain about it all the time, actually.)
So,what are your thoughts? Have you tried it? Do you agree with D’Souza when she says, “It’s not just that I missed the smell of shampoo; it’s that between the 200 daily strokes, the dousing in hot water, the vinegar rinses, the head massages, and so on, not washing proved to be more high maintenance than the alternative.”
Have I fallen victim to some crazy trend or was my old roommate really onto something?
[Daphne Guinness getting ready for the Gala in a Barney's window... Why not?!?]
It was McQueen Mania at the Met last night, as the Costume Institute celebrated the designer and his body of work in their annual fundraising fête.
But the mania was well deserved, if regrettably posthumous. Few designers accomplished what McQueen accomplished with his work: an artistry that transcended his medium and lived purely in the world of fantasy, but that embodied so thoroughly what the rest of the world of designers and luxury giants are perpetually blathering on about: clothes that are, at their core, aspirational.
Master Milliner Philip Treacy said of the maelstrom at the Met: ”[McQueen] wouldn’t have come…”
My personal favorites, after the jump. [Clearly, Guinness is a goddess in McQueen, and as per usual completely overshadowed the myriad others who could only pay their lesser homage to Lee...]
