There has been no book like Alexander McQueen: The Life and Legacy that so clearly and so definitively delves into the mind of Alexander McQueen, probably the greatest designer of the 21st century, whose talent will probably never be surpassed in the annals of fashion history.
This is the most authoritative and exhaustive coverage of this designer’s life, as abbreviated as it was. Ms. Watt has assembled colleagues and friends of the late designer, and all of them contribute to the telling of his life story. Accompanying every chapter is a quote by the late designer that sets the stage for that particular segment.
Through all the remembrances and retellings of each person’s interactions with the late designer, the reader is consumed by a life inhabited by a simple guy who happened to be so extraordinarily talented and so bright and so steeped in his commitment to his craft that one can’t help but think that Mr. McQueen perhaps gave away too much of himself with every collection. Or perhaps he met his end when his one true love left this earth and he realized that he could no longer give to his métier with his mother gone.
Alexander McQueen: Evolution is a chronological accounting of Mr. McQueen’s body of work.
Ms. Gleason writes about McQueen’s collections starting in 1994 and concluding in 2010. Each show is given a few pages of dry explanation and a few photographs.
The problem is that Ms. Gleason does not do justice to the glory that was Alexander McQueen. Being an avid admirer or fan of a designer does not necessarily mean that one can write an authoritative volume on that designer’s work. Anyone who has seen these shows, via YouTube, in photo form on Style.com, or been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art can attest to the fact that six photos of any of these collections doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of their content and grandeur—nor can the reader get the fullest sense of what was presented.
The death of Alexander McQueen is one of those events that shook the world—not just the world of fashion. Love Looks Not with the Eyes is a personal remembrance of his life, or better: a celebration of his talents and friendships.
Ms. Deniau was at first a correspondent assigned to trail Mr. McQueen during his tenure at Givenchy. Within a very short period of time she became the designer’s employee as well as a dear and treasured friend. It is primarily through her eyes and lens that this portrait of Alexander McQueen is created.
Ms. Deniau’s view of the designer is presented through photographs taken behind the scenes of his shows and in his workrooms. Each show is offered sequentially and chronologically starting in 1997 and ending in 2010, the year McQueen took his own life.
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