Saturday, 16 July 2011

Feast for the Eyes: 
A Worthy Descendant of Leon Bakst


As you'll all undoubtably know, British gay haute couture designer Alexander McQueen died at the young age of 41. A suicide by hanging. Having had a partner depart this life in a similar way, I was doubly drawn to post on this extraordinary artist.


I remember being impressed hearing someone once say that he'd be very sorry if, at his passing, people didn't joyfully celebrate his life.

So it's in this spirit I've put together a selection from the designer's somewhat Japonaise and bold geometric ready-to-wear collection for the Paris Fashion Week of 2009.





















Even if you know Sweet F A about haute couture, it's hard to imagine anyone not responding to these startlingly innovative designs.

13 comments:

  1. I love them!! The black/orange stripes made me think of Grace Jones for some reason.

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  2. Dear Nick,

    What to say about this post. Let me see:

    absurd
    bizarre
    comic
    demented
    extravagant
    fantastic
    grotesque
    horrific
    inspired
    joking
    kinky
    ludicrous
    marvelous
    nauseating
    over-the-top
    preposterous
    quirky (to put it mildly)
    surreal
    tame.......NOT!
    unusual
    vivacious
    weird
    xenophile
    you've-got-to-be-kidding
    zany.

    Love you always,

    Ken

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  3. I think many of the designs are brilliant, but I do not even pretend to understand why the models have such grotesque make-up.

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  4. An absolutely amazing collection. I wish I had such an imagination! But my own imagination, it seems, doesn't run nearly as much to dressing women as it does to undressing men! : )

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  5. LOL keith - of course my very next move after posting alexander mcqueen was to drift (or was it rush?) over to your, greg's and rick's blogs, equiped as they are with ready undressed men. cheers, nick

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  6. hey ken

    a seriously pithy and amusing comment - though i can even think of a few more words, many in fact, to add to that list, as i'm sure you can too. and thanks for 'xenophile' - had only ever come across it's opposite.

    cheers

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  7. hey sticks

    yep, the designs are brilliant. curiously i thought the make-up, though definitely weird as you say, actually works with the strange japonaise/geometric style of the clothes. or maybe it was the strong latte i was drinking when i came across this collection

    take care, nick

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  8. High drama and utterly brilliant!

    I know it's just too, too provincial of me, but I do wonder Where does one wear such clothing? Certainly not to dinner (imagine what some misplaced mustard or hollandaise could do!), or to the theater (sitting down, and in such tiny seats?) I suppose one could go to a VERY posh art opening, or other such party, where one merely walked about slowly, posing.

    Very sad about his death.

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  9. innovative yes. But wearable? Impractical!

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  10. hey paul

    i can't see myself just slipping into one/any of mcqueens' creations either, though if we were slightly more towards to drag-oriented end of the gay spectrum we might find endless opportunities for each and every outfit! and i'm nor sure that even straight wealthy young haute couture wearers would find a whole lot of use for them. cat walk fantasies only?

    yep, sad about his death - googling about revealed only that he was distraught over his mother's recent death. may the case or maybe there was something else. have you any more information from the vine?

    very good to hear from you

    best

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  11. hey nywla

    yep, i think just show pieces for the cat walk to advertise 'i'm here and fabulous so why don't you also look at my Prêt-à-Porter' don't you think?

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  12. I guess I'll have to turn in my Gay Boy's Cocksucking License and my Pillow Biter's Permit because I think all this looks like shit. No woman is ever going to actually wear any of this crap, so why bother?

    I guess I'm just not gay enough to appreciate it. Then again, I don't know any Judy Garland songs either.

    I'm probably the most boring eighteen year old gay male in the world. I dress out of the Brooks Brothers and L. L. Bean catalogues, have no tattoos and don't body-barber at all. Then again, maybe that helped land my engineering internship for the summer?

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  13. hey bannister

    can't imagine wearing any either - i just like them for their (almost) sculptural qualities - and the design inventiveness - not a gay thing really

    wouldn't hand in my Gay Boy's Cocksucking License if i were you - could still cum in handy

    take care and be in touch

    nick

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