Designer McQueen dies at 40
NEW YORK – Alexander McQueen, the fashion world’s reigning provocateur who helped elevate British fashion to the international stage with his unconventional and sometimes macabre designs, was found dead Thursday at his home in London. He was 40.
The police have not released an official report on the cause of death, but his press representatives at KCD Worldwide said it was an apparent suicide.
As a designer, McQueen was not only a technical genius – as comfortable cutting an Edwardian-inspired suit as draping a kimono with a 25-foot train – but a creative genius as well. His theatrical runway productions were often controversial, casting models as witches, rape victims and mental patients, challenging the notions of what is beautiful and what is grotesque.
He was known for rigorously tailored jackets, second-skin repeating-pattern leggings and dresses, gravity-defying lobster-claw shoes, and a fascination for the macabre that lent itself to suitcases with ribcage motifs and sweaters with cable knit skull and crossbones.
Eric Jennings, vice president and men’s fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, described the designer Thursday as “an icon.”
“It’s a tragedy; Alexander McQueen has been a tremendous resource for us,” Jennings said.
Lee Alexander McQueen was born in London on March 17, 1969, the youngest of six children of a London cab driver and his homemaker wife. He completed his studies at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design in 1992, trained with Romeo Gigli in Milan, and apprenticed on Savile Row.
He started his women’s business in 1992, then launched his men’s wear in 2004 and the secondary line McQ in 2006. From 1996 to early 2001, he had a rocky tenure as head designer of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy-owned house of Givenchy. It was so rocky, in fact, that he sold a stake of his own business to rival Gucci Group in 2000.
Soon, McQueen’s gothic aesthetic became a favorite of Hollywood celebrities such as Kate Moss, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rihanna.
McQueen’s death comes days after his mother Joyce’s death on Feb. 2.