Alexander McQueen was a very, very talented designer. The fact that the word “was” is used is quite sad. McQueen, a British designer, committed suicide at the age of 41 fairly recently in the year 2010. Within his short life though he garnered awarded “British Designer of the Year” four different times. He also named International Designer of the year in 2003 by the Council for Fashion Designers. Again, Alexander McQueen was very talented.
McQueen started very young starting at the age of 16 serving as an apprentice on Savile Row (in central London this is the street where all the tailors are). By the age of 20 and during his brief years as a tailor, he had work with such dignified individuals as Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles! From his tailoring work he then went to Italy where he worked with Romeo Gigli. Then in 1994 he returned to London and enrolled in Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design. His talent again was quickly recognized here, and once he graduated with a masters degree, his entire graduation collection was bought by Isabella Blow–a fashion stylist at the time (Blow also died of suicide–after multiple attempts.) Blow helped to push Alexander–there doesn’t seem to be a doubt about that. In fact she encouraged him to use his middle name Alexander instead of Lee, his first name. Regardless of the name he went by, McQueen became successful instantaneously. He became known as “the hooligan of English fashion.” He was utterly shocking and also controversial with his styles and shows. The most fantastical show was when he had a mirrored box placed in the center for all the guests in the stands to see themselves. After an hour, it was making the audience very uncomfortable. Then, once the show started lights went on in the mirrored box and there were thousands of moths within. Not only that, there was a model (writer Michelle Olley) sitting in the box immersed with all these moths with a gas mask on! As if this all wasn’t shocking enough, the glass walls then fell away and shattered to the ground!
One of the looks McQueen left behind that is most famous is the “bumpster” or for American the very low rise jean. Another very trendy look that is very prevalent to this day is the use of skulls. McQueen started that–especially within scarves. What’s most known about McQueen however are his amazing, elaborate gowns. The intricacies and details are exquisite marking that specific niche in tailoring that Lee Alexander McQueen was born with. Unfortunately, due to bouts with depression, he wasn’t able to continue his amazing talents to this day.
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