Throughout his career, Alexander McQueen has maintained a radical identity, creating fashions to be discussed in the same fantastical context as the designer’s late, great hat-wearing muse Isabella Blow and the whimsical photographer Tim Walker.

Whereas most labels struggle to balance commercial success with the pretext of forward thinking, McQueen chooses to prioritize the latter and wait for the world to catch up. He reaffirmed this commitment last week in Milan at his Winter 09 menswear show, which showcased a fashion revolution that has been populating the streets for awhile, if not the catwalks: the Dandy Revolution.

While some fashion houses refuse to move past the limited metrosexuality of the skinny pants — declining to realize that the gates for truly inspired menswear have been thrust open and now anything goes — McQueen presented a dark, stimulating collection indicative of what men want (or will want soon).

So no more looking to womenswear to reinvent the fashion wheel, boys. Get out your eyeliner and machetes…In McQueen’s world, you can be the butcher, the baker and the lipstick maker.