The Met’s Alexander McQueen show closes at midnight, Sunday, August 7. People have been waiting up to four hours to get in. Here is Charlene Giannetti’s review originally posted on May 3 when the show first opened.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Three days after Catherine Middleton married into royalty wearing a wedding gown designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, the Metropolitan Museum held a gala evening to celebrate Alexander McQueen—Savage Beauty, “the most spectacular museum costume exhibit mounted anywhere,” according to Thomas Campbell, the Met’s director.

Crossing an ocean to attend the opening, Burton (left) made brief remarks during the morning press briefing. “He truly was a genius,” she said of McQueen. Stella McCartney said of her fellow designer and friend: “This is his moment.”

McQueen, or Lee, as his close friends called him, died at age 40 in February, 2010, an apparent suicide. The euphoria accompanying this exhibit cannot help but be tempered by the knowledge that the fashion world lost one of its brightest stars at the height of his career. McQueen didn’t just design clothes; he created wearable art using fabrics and materials in unique and imaginative ways. Showcasing his fashions, he staged events, giving each of his collections a name and narrative. His runway shows were extravagant and unpredictable.

The Metropolitan Museum has honored McQueen’s talent by putting together an exhibit that is every bit as exciting and surprising as the designer’s fashions. The clothes are expertly displayed, grouped together either by a specific fashion show or by the materials used. McQueen loved feathers and they are everywhere—in dresses, skirts, hair ornaments, and accessories. Besides feathers, McQueen incorporated shells, plastic, leather, wood, metal, and many other elements into his creations.

There are videos throughout the exhibit showing special moments from McQueen’s fashion shows. In one, we see the model Shalom Harlow having her flared white dress spray painted by two robots while she rotates on a platform. In the audio tour accompanying the show, Harlow explained what she felt motivated McQueen. “It encapsulated how he related to creation,” whether the sexual act or the big bang theory, she said. As she twirled around, paint flying, she felt herself surrender to the moment.

Aimee Mullins, a double amputee who is a Paralympian, walked down the runway in prosthetic legs that McQueen designed out of solid wood. In the audio tour, Mullins, who is now one of the faces of L’Oreal Cosmetics, said “there was no give in the ankles,” and because she wore a leather top that secured her neck, she couldn’t look down. Yet she apparently did an incredible job because those watching the show thought the wooden legs were boots.

The exhibit replicates an iconic moment from McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2006 show featuring model Kate Moss in a holographic 3D image. Moss, fresh from a tabloid scandal where she was shown snorting cocaine, is shown twirling around in an explosion of chiffon, her identity first obscured by the fabric. When her face was revealed during the show, the crowd burst into spontaneous applause. A memorable moment for McQueen and a comeback for Kate.

Surprisingly, the exhibit does not include any photos or videos of McQueen himself. And what does emerge, through the comments made by various people in the audio tour, is a confusing image of the designer.

Sarah Jessica Parker wore one of McQueen’s tartan creations. She described McQueen as “quiet, unthinkably shy, and concerned about his work.” Yet socialite Annabelle Neilsen reminisces about the evenings she spent with Lee, as she called him, going to the Shadow Lounge in SoHo to dance. “He gave this world an amazing show and I will be forever grateful that he was my best friend,” she said.

Alexander McQueen—Savage Beauty
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Through August 7, 2011
www.metmuseum.org

Alexander McQueen

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