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" For Alexander McQueen, fashion was a collision of extremes, both technical and emotional. Putting his Savile Row tailoring skills to bold use, he created provocative designs that ran from neo-Victorian to postapocalyptic. In his hands, traditional embroidery and fierce leatherwork, gilded duck feathers and razor-clam shells all served to redefine beauty according to his darkly poetic vision. A year after his death at the age of 40, the Metropolitan Museum of Art&amp;#039;s Costume Institute pays tribute with a stirring retrospective. One hundred of his creations are on view, along with imaginative runway accessories like a plumed headpiece with a nest of glittering eggs. &amp;quot;The cycle of life is positive because it gives room for new things,&amp;quot; the designer says in the accompanying book. And as evidenced by a certain pitch-perfect wedding gown just last month, the fashion house, now helmed by Sarah Burton, is blooming anew. &amp;quot;Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,&amp;quot; Metropolitan Museum of Art, through July 31, 2011; metmuseum.org   Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, by Andrew Bolton with photography by S\u00F8lve Sundsb\u00F8, published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, $45; yalepress.yale.edu "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/interior-designers/a3257/all-hail-mcqueen-a-69570/>