Long live McQueen

In a world that survives on fantasy, glamour and media hype, McQueen led an exceedingly quiet life. He turned down interviews and kept to himself, shirking the limelight where he could. But his visionary talent left people hungry for more of him.

They say when someone dies, people don’t mourn for the victim but for themselves. Mourning spread across the fashion world when the news broke that Lee Alexander McQueen had taken his own life;  to look at their lives, now, without the promise of the inspiration, creativity and cheek that McQueen exuded.

Sixth child of a taxi driver and a teacher, McQueen grew up making dresses for his sisters. Leaving school, he worked with two Saville Row houses, Anderson and Shepphard and Gieves and Hawkes where he made a reputation for creating an impeccably tailored look.

Working, then, with numerous names, including Angels and Bermans costumiers, he revealed his flair for the theatrical and his mischievous nature. He always had a penchant for shock tactics and pushing the conventions in fashion - namely, being one of the first designers to use Indian models in London and his controversial use of model and double amputee, Aimee Mullins. He had a creative flair that out shined the confines of Givenchy, which he left in 2001 due to a contract which was “constraining his creativity”.

Setting out on his own with Alexander McQueen and McQ, McQueen’s fashion prowess came into its own. This is most evident in his recent 2010 line which is pulled from a concept of mutated people living in a semi-submerged world. A stir was caused by the shoes in his line which epitomise surreal beauty, despite the conflicting feeling that they should be fashion monstrosities. Part lobster claw, part alien, they were covered with anything from snakeskin to diamonds and, in movement, were impossible to stop watching.

With the future of McQ and Alexander McQueen in doubt, it is universally recognisable that the world is a severely less fabulous place.

Lucy Telford