22 February 2011Last updated at 12:50

In pictures: Alexander McQueen exhibition

Around 100 examples of Alexander McQueen's work are to be displayed at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in May in a major celebration of the late British fashion designer.

Exhibits will be drawn primarily from the prolific designer's archive in London, where he worked for 19 years. His final runway presentation took place after his death last year.

Ensemble, VOSS by Alexander McQueen (2001). Photo by Solve Sundsbo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andrew Bolton, curator of the Museum's Costume Institute, said he was "amazed at the breadth of the archive," which goes back as far as McQueen's first runway show in 1994.

Dress by Alexander McQueen (2010). Photo by Solve Sundsbo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

A tattoo McQueen had on his upper right arm helped inspire the exhibition, Andrew Bolton said. The quote, taken from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, reads: "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind."

Alexander McQueen was found dead in his London home in February 2010. The four-time British designer of the year started his career as an apprentice in Savile Row with Anderson and Sheppard before going on to work for Gieves and Hawkes.

Dress, The Horn of Plenty by Alexander McQueen (2009-2010). Photo by Solve Sundsbo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The exhibition will showcase recurring themes and concepts in McQueen's work, including Romantic Gothic, Romantic Nationalism and 'The Savage Mind'.

Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, said McQueen's influence was "completely global". "I think that young people all over the world are going to be completely fascinated by his work," she added.

Thomas P Campbell, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said McQueen's designs "constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion".

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty runs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 4 May to 31 July.

Entertainment & Arts

In pictures: Alexander McQueen exhibition

Share this page

Related Stories

Related Internet links

Services

About BBC News