"One of the most poetic and beautiful ways of how we see this modification in fashion is through Alexander McQueen, especially through his runway shows, where body modification and shaping of the human form was taken to a form of artistry. McQueen was really the most brilliant designer of our age and i think that he was someone who was always very interested in the relationship between clothing and the body. When we did a corset exhibition, most designers had done corsets that were replicas of the perfect female torso, while McQueen had done a moulded leather corset and the breasts were uneven - which in fact breasts are. He also had big Frankenstein stitching across the torso, questioning the integrity of the body. There were not only a hyper-idealisation of the body that most designers are still trying to achieve, but i think that McQueen was also asking and questioning that bodies can also be hurt and suffering. Bodies are more complicated and he always brought in ideas of terror, ugliness and fear, instad of denying all of that and only presenting the perfect image, the perfect ideal of a happy body, which is often the fashion ideal. There was always poetry."

— Patricia Mears and Dr. Valerie Steele on Alexander McQueen’s relationship between clothing and the body (via pauvres)