Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen

Born on March 17, 1969, Lee Alexander McQueen was a British couturier and fashion designer known for working at Givenchy as head designer between 1996 and 2001, and for establishing his own label. He was born in London to a taxi driver and teacher. He went to Carpenters Road Primary School. During this time he began designing and stitching clothes for his sisters and intended to become a fashion designer once he grew up. He then joined the Rokeby School but left the place at in 1985 in order to do an internship at Anderson & Sheppard with Savile Row prior to Gieves &Hawkes and then ended up at Angels and Bermans. With these apprenticeships, he earned a great reputation in the world of fashion. His clients at the time included Prince Charles and Mikhail Gorbachev. When he was twenty years old, he worked for Koji Tatsuno and then for Romeo Gigli. In 1994, he did his masters from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. Later on, McQueen launched his collections and along the way he met Katy England who accompanied him in his work. His designs have been worn by David Bowie and Björk for their tours and music albums. Between 1996 and 2001, Alexander McQueen worked at Givenchy and ended the contract after expressing that the company constrained his creativity.

Some of McQueen’s collections for the runway have been criticized for the cruel theatrical captions, such as Highland Rape, or burnsters. For McQueen, a catwalk was more than showing off apparel, it was an opportunity to present himself and so he used innovation and technology to add dramatic twists in his shows. His most popular show presented a collection named VOSS. Moreover, McQueens work was loved by celebrities, especially the scarves with skulls in patterns and designs.

Alexander McQueen won himself some prestigious awards, such as British Designer of the Year, and the Year’s International Designer by the Council of Fashion Designers. In addition to this, he also partnered with Gucci selling them 51% in his brand and became their Creative Director. He also became the first designer to be involved in the promotional activities of cosmetics by MAC.

Moving on, the designer openly announced that he was gay and realized this fact when he was just six. At the age of eighteen he told his family about his sexual orientation, and although there was disagreement at first, they later accepted this. In 2000 because same sex marriage was not legal in Spain, McQueen married George Forsyth unofficially. However in a year they separated and became close friends. In the chapters of his personal life, one contained the named Isabella Blow who had committed suicide and the media spread rumors that McQueen was responsible for her act. The designer clarified in an interview that the allegations were wrong and no one could understand the relationship between the two.

On 11 February 2010, Alexander McQueen he was found dead hanging from the ceiling in his home. Though he left a note, it did not say the reason of his suicide. At the time of investigation, one of his friend’s explained that McQueen was unhappy for some time and consumed a great amount of drugs. His memorial was attended by Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Anna Wintour, Stella McCartney, Sarah Jessica Parker and Björk. McQueen loved his dogs so much that he left thousands of dollars for them to live a luxurious life after him.