Alexander McQueen, 1969-2010
British designer Alexander McQueen passed away today at 40, one month short of his 41st birthday. The designer, who represented youthful, daring and avant-garde couture fashion and managed to distill unexpected concepts into catwalk extravaganzas, was found dead in his London flat.
In the wake of his unexpected death—an apparent suicide, though there has been no official confirmation of the cause—the fashion industry is feeling the loss accutely. News of his death spread as fashion insiders showed up for the first day of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.
The NY Times has a great slideshow chronicling his career, which began 20 years ago as an apprentice to some of England's most influential tailors, here. Fashion Week Daily chronicles his rise to fashion giant here. Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue, had this to say about McQueen's passing: "We are devastated to learn of the death of Alexander McQueen, one of the greatest talents of his generation. He brought a uniquely British sense of daring and aesthetic fearlessness to the global stage of fashion. In such a short career, Alexander McQueen's influence was astonishing—from street style to music culture and the world's museums. His passing marks an insurmountable loss."
Love it or hate it, McQueen's work was always a topic of conversation. His most recent collection for his self-named brand, Spring 2010, featured models morphed into reptiles and fantastical underwater sea creatures. The shoes McQueen created for the collection, ungainly and indescribable platforms, had the fashion industry agog. His Fall 2009 collection, which featured models outfitted with grotesquely oversized red wax lips and bizarrely tailored outfits, earned him the labels of mysogynist and ultimate showman. Some of his past collections took their inspiration from unlikely sources: mental institutions, futuristic worlds, grotesque fairytales and Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds."
Images courtesy of Style.com
McQueen, who was the chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001, was scheduled to show his Fall 2010 collection on March 9 at Paris Fashion Week. McQueen is survived by his father and five siblings. His mother passed away earlier this month.
