Nihilism (Spring/Summer 1994) is the third collection by the British designer Alexander McQueen for his fashion house. An eclectic collection with no straightforward theme, it pushed back against dominant womenswear trends with its hard tailoring and aggressive, sexualised styling. It was created in collaboration with McQueen's associates Simon Ungless and Fleet Bigwood. McQueen's first professional runway show, Nihilism included experimental techniques, silhouettes and materials, such as dresses made from cellophane, stained with clay or adorned with dead locusts. The styling was intended to be provocative and disturbing. The clothing was highly sexualised: thin fabric that exposed the skin underneath or garments cut to expose breasts and vulvas. The collection received mixed reviews. Journalists had a difficult time deciding what to make of it. McQueen returned to many of the ideas he explored in Nihilism throughout his lifetime, especially the interplay of sexuality and violence.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism_%28Alexander_McQueen_collection%29

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1607:

Low-lying areas flooded around the coasts of the Bristol Channel in southwest England and south Wales, resulting in around 2,000 deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1607_Bristol_Channel_floods

1862:

The United States Navy launched USS Monitor, the first American ironclad warship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monitor

1964:

In a bloodless coup, Nguyễn Khánh overthrew Dương Văn Minh's military junta in South Vietnam, less than three months after Minh's own coup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1964_South_Vietnamese_coup

2005:

Forty-six years to the day after the sinking of the Danish ocean liner MS Hans Hedtoft, Queen Margrethe II unveiled a memorial in Copenhagen to the 95 passengers and crew who perished. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Hans_Hedtoft

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

unwisdom: 1. (uncountable) Lack of wisdom; unwise action or conduct; folly, foolishness. 2. (countable) 3. An instance of a lack of wisdom; a foolish act. 4. (rare) A foolish or unwise being or force. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unwisdom

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Would an alien outsider judge America's performance by My Lai and Wounded Knee or by Lincoln and Jefferson?   --Gregory Benford https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gregory_Benford