Alexander McQueen
(1969-2010)
Alexander McQueen was born Lee McQueen in London,England in 1969. McQueen was the youngest of six children. McQueen developed his skill for fashion design at an early age, helping his struggling family and three older sisters with the making of their dresses. At the age of sixteen McQueen left school and began an apprenticeship with Saville Row's tailors Anderson and Sheppard, which gave him the opportunity to work alongside Gieves,Hawkes and Koji Tatsuno at the age of twenty one. Through his association with these renowned tailors he would master a total of six methods of pattern cutting, dating from the 16th century to the present.
In 1990, McQueen returned to school, attending the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. His experience and design talent got him admitted as a graduate student, where he was awarded the Master of Arts degree in 1922. It was then that McQueen launched his own line line beginning with his autumn-winter collection in 1993, followed by his Nilhilism spring-summer collection in 1994; and Highland Rape autumn-winter line in 1995, which relied mostly on shock fashion rather than actual wearability. McQueen introduced a rebellious, hard edged style which included low-riding "bumpster" trousers, slashed clothing and garments designed to emphasize and at the same time deride the body's erogenous zones. He produced laminated lace dresses, a riveted vinyl princess line dress with a red tartan PVC frock coat, alongside more practical items.
In 1996, McQueen's financial backer, the Japanese corporate giant Onward Kashiyama, one of the world's largest production houses who's subsidiary, Gibo; produced the McQueen line. In a few years McQueen reached monumental success becoming chief designer for Givenchy in Paris, and replacing acclaimed designers Galliano and Dior. In 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2003 McQueen was named British Designer of the Year.
As well as being a fabulous fashion designer, McQueen would also prove to be a very savvy business man, selling his controlling shares to Gucci in 2000 and resigning from Givenchy in 2001. His role as creative director of the company, however, would permit McQueen to retain creative design freedom, while the backing of Gucci, who owned Yves Saint Laurent, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga would promote and expand his business from a small-scale clothing label to a luxury brand.
On February 11, 2010 Alexander McQueen was found dead at his Mayfair home. His mother (Joyce) had died only a few days before. On February 18, 2010, Robert Polet, the president and chief executive of the Gucci Group, announced that the Alexander McQueen business would carry on without its founder and creative director.
