Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

By Andrew Bolton, with contributions by Susannah Frankel and Tim Blanks; Photography by Sølve Sundsbø

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) was one of the most influential, imaginative, and provocative designers of his generation. His clothing both challenged and expanded the conventional parameters of fashion to express ideas about culture, politics, and identity. Rare among designers, McQueen saw beyond clothing’s physical constraints to its ideological and conceptual possibilities, addressing questions related to race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, and the environment.

Featuring the most iconic and radical designs of his prolific career, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty examines the designer’s evolution from the start of his fledgling label, to his years as creative director at Givenchy in Paris, and finally to the collections of his own world- renowned London house. It reveals how McQueen adapted and combined the fundamentals of Savile Row tailoring, the specialized techniques of haute couture—such as lacework, embroidery, and featherwork—and technological innovation to achieve his distinctive aesthetic. It also focuses on the highly sophisticated narrative structures found in McQueen’s collections and in his extravagant runway presentations, which suggested the most avant-garde installation and performance art.

Published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute, this stunning book includes a preface by curator Andrew Bolton; an introduction by Susannah Frankel; an interview with Sarah Burton, creative director of the house of Alexander McQueen, conducted by Tim Blanks; and illuminating commentary from the designer himself. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty celebrates the astounding creativity and originality of a designer who relentlessly questioned and confronted the requisites of fashion.

Named one of the Top Ten Best Books of 2011 by Library Journal, named to Time’s list of Best Gift Books for 2011, listed in the Best of Art Books section of The Wall Street Journal’s Gift Guide, and named one of ForeWord’s 2011 Book of the Year Awards Finalists.

Selected by columnist Julie Lasky as one of Designers & Books’s Notable Design Books of 2011 and winner of the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Award for Most Outstanding Design.

Named to Amazon’s Best Jackets and Covers and Top 10 Art and Photograph Books lists for 2011 and No. 41 on Amazon’s list of the 100 Best Books of the Year for 2011.