Absolute monarchy

In the kingdom of the extraordinary, controversial and fantastical readjustments to taste and design, Alexander McQueen was the autocrat, with absolute power and ruling with unlimited authority. He promulgated directional fashion, so much that style was somehow always married with theatrics and technology. Who could forget Kate Moss’s smoky apparitional hologram in the fall of 2006? Or his most recent, Plato’s Atlantis — an undulating sea of remastered digital python prints made accessible through live streaming on SHOWstudio.com?

Responsible for elevating British fashion all over the world, McQueen started as the renegade prince. Shock, irreverence and a consistent dark feel to his pieces lent an almost macabre taunting to our normal, preconceived design thoughts. But he pushed fashion in a way that made his collections iconic through the years. And as every season saw a more defined and directional reinterpretation of current issues, empires and future scenarios, his vision and intellectual creativity slowly took over imaginations. It wasn’t long before McQueen was crowned the King of Innovation.

And although the fashion subjects hoped for a long, complex and fascinating reign over the style kingdom, the King tragically passed away at the age of 40. And as the people bowed their heads in grief, mourning the passing of a great master, a tribute was in the works to show how much the monarch had influenced the industry. And so the theme for the annual Preview Best Dressed Ball was decided. In honor of the couture genius whose works bordered on art, and whose creativity was also defined by superb technicality.

Your legacy lives on. Long live McQueen!