The bindery is in Calenzano, near Prato, which had a strong textile industry. The lenticulars are manufactured in Italy and each one is secured to the book by hand with strong, double-sided tape. They showed us an invitation from one of McQueen’s last runway shows featuring a lenticular image, which shifted from a portrait of McQueen to a patterned skull depending on how we angled the card. Early in the planning, the exhibition’s curator Andrew Bolton and I met with the representatives from the McQueen organization in the Museum’s staff café. With most books, we go through many rounds of cover designs, and it is often hard to get consensus on the right image. We had to start printing the book in February so that copies would arrive from the Italian printer in time for the show’s opening in May.Ĭould you speak about the origins of the catalogue’s iconic cover image? We shot the photographs in December 2010, on a very fast schedule. The models we hired had worked as dress models for McQueen, so they were familiar with wearing his garments. All the works were part of McQueen’s archive and we photographed them there. You were able to photograph McQueen’s works on live models because they weren’t accessioned Museum objects, right? For this reason, no one may wear a garment after it enters the collection. The dramatic movement of the costumes shown in this photograph was only possible with live models.Īs with any works of art in The Met collection, the staff preserves and protects all accessioned costumes from deterioration. Andrew Bolton, “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” As a designer, he doggedly promoted freedom of thought and expression and championed the authority of the imagination.” “Like Byron, Beethoven, and Delacroix, McQueen is an exemplar of the Romantic individual, the hero-artist who staunchly followed the dictates of his inspiration. The shots are dramatic and better reflect how McQueen’s clothes are made to be seen. Their focus is on the clothing, and the garments look natural because they were photographed on living bodies. The final images, which kept the hands and eliminated the hardware, worked. It was fine to be dark, but we didn’t want the images to be creepy. The first test shots came back with some of the model’s hands and heads edited out and replaced with hardware. It was Sundsbø’s idea to make the live models look like mannequins using white body paint and post-production retouching. One of the things that made the Savage Beauty catalogue such a success is the evocative imagery by fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø, and I think readers might be interested to know that there is a little more to the photographs than meets the eye. Look a little closer-that isn’t a mannequin on the right! I spoke with Gwen Roginsky-who has served as the publication director and production manager of Costume Institute books for twenty years-about her experience working on the Museum’s best-selling publication to date. Written by Andrew Bolton-with an introduction by fashion journalist Susannah Frankel and an interview with Alexander McQueen’s creative director, Sarah Burton, conducted by Tim Blanks-this stunning book remains an essential publication on the groundbreaking artistry of this provocative designer. This year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the exhibition and its publication, which has sold over 340,000 copies and counting. Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty opened at The Met in 2011.
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