What is beauty? Feminine? Fashion? Or luxuries? In McQueen’s mind, beauty is savage. The website“Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” is a part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It uses blog format to show its content. This is not a collection of fashion shows or clothing design as usual, and this is using a very different way to represent “savage beauty”. “Savage beauty” is dark, unpredictable and aggressive. McQueen provides audience an opportunity to evaluate beauty from a distinguished perspective. This is the special value of the exhibition.

McQueen was a British fashion designer. He earned four British Designer of the Year awards. However, he was died in 2010 in his home, but did not confirm that the death was a suicide. In the “About the exhibition” section, it says, “McQueen’s fashions often referenced the exaggerated silhouettes of the 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, and 1950s, but his technical ingenuity always imbued his designs with an innovative sensibility that kept him at the vanguard.”

Alexander McQueen said, “You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s why I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the traditions.” McQueen’s had something romantic in his mind, so his designs sometimes were illogical and unreasonable. One of the iconic designs is the “bumster” skirt was designed in 1995-96. . McQueen’s bumser was an experiment in expanding the body. He wanted to show male or female’s the bottom of the spine. Some people might think the bumster skirt was a sensation in the early nineties. However, I think it was a unique style showing McQueen was trying to break rules but still keep the traditions, the traditions of freedom and sexuality.

McQueen’s collections usually showed opposite directions such as lightness and darkness, life and death. He tried to deeply reflect the dark side of his mind even though sometimes his design was black and horrific. One of his objects called The Horn of Plenty is made out of duck feathers dyed black, which gives the impression of a raven. He made the black has a very hard shoulder and a very skinny waist. McQueen said, “It is important to look at death because it is a part of life. It is a sad thing, melancholy but romantic at the same time.” He also mentioned every thing is a circle, so death does not mean ending, it is positive because “it gives room for new things.” Otherwise, this dress is very similar to the Queen’s dress in Snow White. Although the Queen is evil, she is still a beautiful female.

I really like McQueen’s design. I didn’t think beauty could be savage before I looked his exhibitions. We often appreciate beauty in a positive way, but McQueen used a totally different way to express beauty. The dark and progressive style refreshed my mind or my standard of beauty. Some people may think his art works come from his illogical imagination, but I think his art works showed audience the dark side of people’s mind, which really exists in the world.