RIP Alexander McQueen. Two articles, including "How Alexander McQueen became 'the most influential designer of his generation'"
Dramatic: A model presents a wedding dress with crinoline for Givenchy Spring-Summer 2000, designed by Alexander McQueen
Grieving: Alexander McQueen with his mother Joyce in 2001. She died last week, days before his suicide in London this morning
British fashion icon Alexander McQueen commits suicide days after death of his beloved mother
By Rebecca Camber and Sara Nathan
11th February 2010
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was discovered dead today after taking his own life. The industry was left reeling after the 40-year-old's suicide this morning, which comes just days after the death of his beloved mother, Joyce. It is also just three years since his close friend, style guru Isabella Blow - who plucked him from obscurity and helped him become a star - killed herself.
McQueen, who was christened Lee but used his middle name as a designer, was found at his luxury flat in Mayfair, central London. It is believed he hanged himself. One of his lines, McQ, was due to be shown at New York Fashion Week this afternoon but the show has now been cancelled. Police were called to the designer's £640,000 flat at 10.20am this morning after he was found dead. A private ambulance arrived to take away his body at 4.30pm. Not long before it was taken away, a man with short blond hair who looked distraught and said he was McQueen's boyfriend, went inside. Undertakers brought out the designer's body on a stretcher, covered in a maroon blanket. The blond man came outside and waited, watching the door. He wiped tears from his eyes as he spoke on his mobile phone.
There were also tearful scenes at the designer's company headquarters in Farringdon, where staff were overcome with emotion.
A security guard said: This is a very difficult day.' In a statement, the company said: 'On behalf of Lee McQueen's family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. 'At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee's family. 'Lee's family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.'
The fashion designer is believed to have hanged himself
Top designer: McQueen with models Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss
McQueen, CBE and four time winner of the British Designer of the Year award, was very close to his mother, a genealogist, and had taken her death last week very badly. Posts on his Twitter page in recent days reveal that he had been battling to cope with his grief.
On February 3rd, he wrote: 'I'm letting my followers know my mother passed away yesterday if it she had not me nor would you RIP mumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...' Moments later, he added: 'But life must go on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Then on Sunday, he said: 'Sunday evening been a ****ing awful week but my friends have been great but now i have to some how pull myself together and finish with the HELLS ANGLES & PROLIFIC DEAMONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' He appeared to have recovered slightly by this week. His final message, posted on Tuesday, said: 'I'm here with my girl annie tinkerbell wishing kerry the **** happy birthday in NY, your 40 now girl time to slow it down we think.' However, posts before his mother died also hint that he was having troubles. On February 1st, he wrote: 'From heaven to hell and back again, life is a funny thing. beauty can come from the most strangest of places even the most disgusting places.' His mother had interviewed him for a newspaper in 2004 and asked him: 'What is your most terrifying fear?', to which he replied: 'Dying before you.' She said: 'Thank you, son.'
Police guard the entrance to McQueen's home in Mayfair (left): Undertakers removed his body this afternoon (right)
Two police officers were outside the entrance to his flat, which is in a six-storey red-brick building, this afternoon. Scotland Yard said police were called to the property by the London Ambulance Service at 10.20am after reports a man had been found dead. A police statement said: 'Next of kin have been informed, however we await formal identification. A post mortem will be scheduled in due course, an inquest will open and adjourn in due course. The death is being treated as non suspicious.'
'At one level, he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius'
Vogue editor, Alexandra Shulman
'What a terrible, tragic waste.'
Katherine Hamnett
'He was a genius and his talent was second to none.'
Matthew Williamson
'He leaves the fashion world with an unfillable
void.' Dolce & Gabbana
Born in the East End and the son of a taxi driver, McQueen started as an apprentice at in Savile Row at the age of 16, where he made suits for Prince Charles. He was famously first discovered as a designer in the 90s by Isabella Blow, the style guru and fashion director of Tatler, who killed herself in May 2007 by taking weed killer after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She bought all the clothes he made for his graduate show for £5,000. They were delivered to her in black binliners. With his ultra-short hair and Doc Marten boots and his penchant for shock tactics in his early catwalk shows, he was initially the 'enfant terrible' of the fashion world.
There was a stir when he was made head designer at Givenchy in 1996, succeeding John Galliano. He later joined forces with Gucci, who bought 51 per cent of his company. His hugely successful career brought him numerous awards, including British designer of the year four times between 1996 and 2003 and the International Designer of the Year at the Council of Fashion Designer Awards. He received an CBE in 2003. Openly gay, McQueen once described himself as the 'pink sheep of the family'.
He once said: 'I was sure of myself and my sexuality and I've got nothing to hide. I went straight from my mother's womb onto the gay parade.' He married his partner, film-maker George Forsyth in 2000 on a yacht owned by the prince of Gambia in Ibiza. Close friend Kate Moss was a bridesmaid. But, according to an interview with the New York Times last February, he was single again and had started seeing a porn star - identified only by 'his porn nom de famille Mr Stag'.
Close: Alexander McQueen with Isabella Blow in 2003
Grief: McQueen (R) at Isabella Blow's funeral service in 2007
Within minutes of the Mail breaking the news of his death this afternoon, Twitter was awash with thousands of stunned posts.
Leading lights of the fashion world also began to pay tribute, led by Moss. A statement released on her behalf said: 'Kate is shocked and devastated at the tragic loss of her dear friend Lee McQueen. Her thoughts are with his family at this sad time.' Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, said: 'Lee McQueen influenced a whole generation of designers. His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs. 'At one level, he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn't.' Sue Whiteley his former CEO at McQueen said: 'This is devastating news. He was an unforgettable part of my life. He was a talent who was beyond others. People who worked with him would give 100 per cent and more because he was totally inspiring. This is an unimaginable loss for the fashion world. 'He was able to bring creativity to whatever he turns his hand to, from perfume bottles to every piece of clothing. It is a dark, dark day to hear this news. he was a British icon in fashion whose loss is unimaginable.'
Designer Katherine Hamnett said: 'He was a genius. What a terrible, tragic waste.' Dolce & Gabbana said: 'We are deeply touched for the sudden death of Alexander McQueen, a designer whom we have always admired for his creative genius and unmatched inspiration. He leaves the fashion world with an unfillable void.' Designer Matthew Williamson said: 'I am shocked and deeply saddened by McQueen's death. He was a genius and his talent was second to none. Like many others, I always cited him as a hugely inspirational leader of world fashion. He will be greatly missed.'
A single rose left outside the Alexander McQueen store in Old Bond Street
McQueen with his CBE outside Buckingham Palace in October 2003
A spokesman for the magazine publisher Conde Nast described the news as 'so sad' and said the company was 'quite devastated'.
The British Fashion Council said: 'We are deeply saddened at the news of Alexander McQueen's untimely death. He was a unique talent and one of the world's greatest designers. Our thoughts are with his friends and family at this sad time.' Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw added: 'Alexander McQueen made an outstanding contribution to British fashion. His extraordinary talent and creativity mean that his designs are adored not just by followers of haute couture but lovers of great style everywhere. This is a great loss to one of Britain's most successful industries and to the design world more widely.' The designer was the youngest of six children. He left school at 16 and went to work at Savile Row’s Anderson & Sheppard, whose clients included Prince Charles and Mikhail Gorbachev, after he saw a television program about the apprentice shortage in traditional tailoring. He went on to work for Gieves & Hawkes, theatre’s famous Angels & Bermans costumiers, and then worked in Japan and Italy. He returned to London in 1994, hoping to work as a pattern cutter tutor at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion school. Thanks to the strength of his portfolio, he was persuaded to enrol in the course himself. After graduating McQueen set up his own label based in the East End of London and it was then that he was spotted by Blow. McQueen was forced to deny rumours of a rift between the pair at the time of her death, saying: ‘It’s so much b******s. These people just don’t know what they’re talking about. They don’t know me. They don’t know my relationship with Isabella. It’s complete bull****. 'People can talk; you can ask her sisters.… That part of the industry, they should stay away from my life, or mine and Isabella’s life. What I had with Isabella was completely disassociated from fashion, beyond fashion.’
McQueen with actress Sarah Jessica Parker in New York in 2006
McQueen with singer Janet Jackson at his store opening in LA in 2008
He was so distraught at her suicide that he dedicated his spring summer 2008 show at Paris fashion week to his late friend. The invites to the show were poster-size illustrations Richard Gray. It depicts a triumphant Blow, in a McQueen dress and a Philip Treacy headdress, in a horse-drawn carriage ascending to heaven. Miss Blow had said: 'My relationship with McQueen began in 1994, when I went to a Saint Martins graduate show. I couldn't get a seat, so I sat on the stairs and I was just watching, when I suddenly thought: I really like those clothes, they are amazing. It was his first collection. ‘It was the tailoring and the movement which initially drew me to them. I tried to get hold of him and I kept calling his mother, but he was on holiday. She kept saying: 'He's not here, he's not here.' She told him: 'This crazy person is trying to get hold of you.' I eventually got to meet him and I decided to buy the collection: I bought one thing a month and paid him £100 a week. He'd bring an outfit in a bin liner, I'd look at it and then he'd come to the cashpoint with me.’
Article: HERE
Tall order: Alexander McQueen's controversial Armadillo shoes as part of the Spring 2010 collection inspired by Charles Darwin's Origin of Species
A life in fashion: How Alexander McQueen became 'the most influential designer of his generation'
He was the East End boy whose breathtaking fashion creations became adored the world over. But today the fashion industry mourns the loss of one of it's greatest talents. Within hours of Lee Alexander McQueen's suicide, tributes poured in from the industry's most influential figures. British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman said: 'He was the most brilliant designer of his generation and his influence can be seen in the way that women dressed over the last 15 years. 'It is an incredible loss not only for British fashion but for fashion the world over.' Former CEO at Alexander McQueen, Sue Whiteley, said: 'This is devastating news. He was an unforgettable part of my life. He was a talent who was beyond others. People who worked with him would give 100 per cent and more because he was totally inspiring. 'This is an unimaginable loss for the fashion world. 'He was able to bring creativity to whatever he turns his hand to, from perfume bottles to every piece of clothing. 'It is a dark, dark day to hear this news. He was a British icon in fashion whose loss is unimaginable.' true original, who once incorporated human hair into his designs, and last September sent 12-inch platforms down the catwalk, McQueen combined masterful tailoring and a haute couture sensibility with an imagination that spanned from obscure to sublime. is designs, which he once described as 'armour', were adored by countless celebrities from Joan Collins to Lady GaGa. He once said in an interview: 'When you see a woman wearing McQueen, there's a certain hardness to the clothes that makes her look powerful. It kind of fends people off. You have to have a lot of balls to talk to a woman wearing my clothes.' Victoria Beckham, who is frequently photographed wearing McQueen designs, said: 'McQueen was a master of fashion, creative genius and an inspiration. 'Today the fashion industry has lost a true great. An icon of all time. He made all he touched beautiful and will be desperately missed. 'My heart is very much with his family and friends at this very sad time.'
A fragrance, a trainer collection for Puma and luggage line for Samsonite <:od>made his designs accessible for the masses, and a cheaper, diffusion collection, McQ, was launched in 2005 to be sold alongside his mainline collection. <:OD>Born in Lewisham, McQueen was the son of a London cab driver and the youngest of six children.Though his career officially began at the age of 16, he often recalled <:od>his earliest memory when, aged 3, he drew a picture of a dress on the wall of his family's council house in the East End of London. He was close with his mother, and is said to have taken her death badly when she died last week.
In a joint interview in 2004, she had asked him: 'What is your most terrifying fear?' He replied: 'Dying before you.' To which she replied: 'Thank you, son.' McQueen called himself the 'pink sheep' of his family, and admitted he had known he was gay for at least ten years before he came out to his family, aged 18 -something he described as a 'rocky period'.
Golden oldies: Alexander's Paris show in April 2009, where he served up a selection of his greatest hits
Surreal: The 2009 collection included hats made of 'found' items including umbrellas, lampshades and wheels
Bold: McQueen's elaborate and theatrical accessories, pictured in 2000, played a pivotal role in his shows
Juxtoposition: McQueen's collections often included contrasts between the wildly romantic and the controversial. Erin O Connor models a feathered creation in 2000
Integral to the McQueen culture was the fusion of contrasting elements: fragility and strength, tradition and modernity, fluidity and severity. Always relevant, his high-impact, dramatic collections saw him hailed as fashion's 'enfant terrible', and his catwalk shows have been a highlight of Paris Fashion Week since he started showing there in 2000. His inspirations varied from the dark to the bizarre, among them Sydney Pollack's film 'They Shoot Horses, Don't They?', Hitchcock heroines, Lord Of The Flies and even a chess game. The designer called his shows: 'My own living nightmares', and admitted: 'Nicey nicey just doesn't do it for me.'
Controversial: McQueen sent double amputee model Aimee Mullins down the catwalk on carved wooden legs
Among his most exciting collections was last September's ethereal collection, a teenage passion for ornithology evident in an offering inspired by Darwin's The Origin Of The Species. Models were forced to walk the catwalk in towering 12-inch platforms - indeed several refused - with their hair teased into devil-like horns, in minidresses decorated with all manner of colourful, elaborate skins. Ruffled hemlines were frilled to resemble feathers, and vibrant fabrics were printed to resemble amphibian-like breastplates.
Energy: McQueen, pictured in 1998, was renowned for the dramatic effect created during shows
Throwback: The 1998 collection was a nod to 17th Century fashion in Marie Antoinette-style designs
New Romantic: A dress made from silk roses, left, and a nude gown intricately beaded from the 1996 collection
McQueen was to show two collections in the upcoming series of fashion weeks; on Thursday his diffusion line, McQ at New York Fashion Week. Of his label, McQueen told W Magazine in 2008: 'I’m talking about building a luxury brand from scratch, and there wasn’t any [precedent] —maybe Marc [Jacobs], but he’s a bit older than us. 'These new designers, the new generation of luxury brands [could become] like the new Chanel and the new Balenciaga and the new Dior. I see it like that, and now I can see there’s light at the end of the tunnel.' The fashion world had been waiting with baited breath to see his latest offering at Paris Fashion Week next month. Now we may never know what fantastic creations he had in store - instead, the industry look set to pay sad tribute to it's brightest star.
THE CELEBRITY FANS THAT LOVED TO WEAR MCQUEEN....
Anglomania: Alexander McQueen poses with Sarah Jessica Parker at the Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2006, left, and Victoria Beckham sports a similar skirt in 2006
Katie Holmes at a charity function in New York in 2008, Cate Blanchett at the premiere of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008 and Rihanna at the premiere of Inglourious Basterds
Sarah Jessica Parker at the premiere of Sex and the City, Nicole Kidman at the Country Music Awards in 2007 and Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2002 Oscars
Cameron Diaz at this year's Golden Globes, Kate Bosworth in January this year and Patsy Kensit in 2009
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