McQueen - Think King

I was flicking through 'Fashion at the Edge' by Caroline Evans and came across an interesting section on some of the twisted and dark influences that seem to continuously infiltrate the thoughts of us fashion designers.  One of the more striking images was from Alexander McQueen's Spring/Summer 1996 collection 'The Hunger'.  The model's clear plastic bustier isn't actually painted on as I initially assumed it to be but filled with worms squashed up against her flesh.  Suddenly what was was an oddly painted bustier has become so much more with the knowledge that those swipes of paint are actually worms writhing around on her skin.  I am far more intrigued by the image and the concept behind it than when I believed to know what I was looking at.  Always the one to challenge fashion and its wide array of associations, McQueen is definitely the king of making us think.  There is a clear attempt to make us uneasy with what we are looking at ... and it works.  The amount of times that I have flicked back to this image to take yet another look is probably slightly excessive but I think it proves my point in my previous posts, (Engaging and Walk The Line) that design needs to make us think to make a difference and be noticed and absorbed.  I'm taking a lesson from McQueen when I design and rethinking what I believe to know and maybe, hopefully, might be able to make people think myself.

(Image at http://estb.msn.com/i/12/2BA77821B3CC61355687D11E7DE.jpg)