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Taxi Driver is the second collection by British designer Alexander McQueen for his eponymous fashion house. It was named after the 1976 film Taxi Driver, and his father, who was a London taxicab driver. McQueen developed the collection following his 1992 graduation from art school. At the time he was unemployed and seeking a job in the fashion industry; although reluctant to launch his own company, he worked on designs to pass the time. The collection included experimental techniques and silhouettes, notably the bumster trouser, whose extremely low waist exposed the top of the intergluteal cleft. In lieu of a traditional fashion show, Taxi Driver was exhibited in a room at the Ritz Hotel during London Fashion Week in March 1993. Aided by magazine editor Isabella Blow, the collection garnered positive reviews. When the exhibition ended, McQueen packed the clothing into bin bags and went clubbing. He left the bags hidden in the rubbish behind one club and when he returned the next day, the rubbish had been removed. Nothing remains of the collection. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Coiled corset from The Overlook

... that the Alexander McQueen collection The Overlook (Autumn/Winter 1999) featured a Shaun Leane–produced corset made from coiled aluminium (pictured)?
... that a law banning Native Americans from living in Seattle was voided when Seattle itself was abolished?
... that Cam McCormick is thought to be the first college football player to be granted a ninth year of NCAA eligibility?
... that the oldest surviving synagogue building in Wisconsin was almost razed in the 1970s?
... that when tavern operator August Palmisano was killed in a 1978 car bombing, authorities suspected organized crime in Milwaukee?
... that during the COVID-19 pandemic, some former office workers used myNoise to remind them of their workplace?
... that Charles J. Turck was accused of being a communist spy during his time as president of Macalester College?
... that The Waste Land, considered one of the most important poems of the 20th century, was described as "waste paper" when first published?

In the news

Kelvin Kiptum

Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum (pictured) dies in a car crash at the age of 24.
Irakli Kobakhidze succeeds Irakli Garibashvili as the prime minister of Georgia.
On the eve of the Pakistani general election, at least 28 people are killed in two Islamic State bombings targeting political campaign offices in Balochistan.
Former president of Chile Sebastián Piñera dies in a helicopter crash at the age of 74.
In Senegal, the upcoming presidential election is postponed, prompting protests from the opposition.

On this day

February 12: Red Hand Day; Shrove Monday (Western Christianity, 2024)

Edvard Munch's The Scream

1691 – A papal conclave convened to select a new pope after the death of Pope Alexander VIII.
1924 – George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York.
1994 – Edvard Munch's painting The Scream (pictured) was stolen from the National Gallery of Norway.
2003 – Protesters in La Paz and the Bolivian government brokered a deal to end two days of rioting against a proposed salary tax.

Ethan Allen (d. 1789)
Charles Darwin (b. 1809)
Bill Russell (b. 1934)
Anna Anderson (d. 1984)

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Minkah Fitzpatrick

The Athletes in Action/Bart Starr Award is given annually to an American football player in the National Football League (NFL) who "best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community". The award is presented by Athletes in Action (AIA), a sports ministry associated with Cru. It is presented to the winner each year at the Super Bowl Breakfast, an NFL-sanctioned event that occurs the day before the Super Bowl. Bart Starr, the Hall of Fame former quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, partnered with AIA to present the award that bears his name. In 1989, Steve Largent, the Hall of Fame former wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks, was presented with the first award during the second Super Bowl Breakfast. The most recent awardee is Minkah Fitzpatrick (pictured), a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who received his award this year. (Full list...)

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Today's featured picture

The snakelocks anemone (Anemonia viridis) is a sea anemone found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The latter population is however sometimes considered a separate species, the Mediterranean snakelocks anemone (Anemonia sulcata). Several species of small animals regularly live in a symbiotic or commensal relationship with the snakelocks anemone, gaining protection from predators by residing among the venomous tentacles. These include the incognito goby, the shrimp Periclimenes aegylios and the Leach's spider crab.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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