LONG LIVE THE MCQUEEN

I am devastated to report the tragic news of the death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Only days before the start of London Fashion Week and a mere two weeks prior to showing his new collection in Paris, McQueen, 40, was found dead in his London home this morning.

This news has rocked the fashion world, which considers McQueen to be one of the most cutting-edge, imaginative and exciting designers and the community is mourning this terrible loss today.

McQueen’s rise to fashion stardom was meteoric; At 16, he began studying tailoring as an apprentice with Anderson & Shephard and Gieves & Hawkes on Saville Row.  After working as a design assistant, he enrolled in Central St. Martins College and earned his Master’s in Fashion Design, after his senior collection was famously bought by British fashion editor Isabella Blow. In October 1996, McQueen was appointed chief designer of Givenchy, where he remained until March of 2001. In December of 2000, Gucci acquired the Alexander McQueen label and McQueen became its Creative Director. Last February, Alexander McQueen collaborated with Target and launched a lower-priced capsule line in pop-up stores and in Target stores around the nation, giving his brand recognition among a new consumer.

This CFDA International Designer of the Year award winner and four-time British Designer of the Year award winner will be sorely missed for his controversially cheeky collections. The creator of Lady Gaga’s lobster claw shoes, the gorgeous paint-splattered blazers of the Resort 2010 collection and the inflamed red doll-like lips on the Fall 09 runway, Alexander McQueen will be remembered for his love of theatricality and possibility in fashion. His romantic sensibility was inherent in his clothes and we mourn the end of this great talent’s life. Troubled by the suicide of close confidante Isabella Blow in 2007 and his mother’s death a mere week ago, McQueen took his own life last night, leaving the fashion community shocked. AMAHZING BLOG sends our thoughts to his family and the Alexander McQueen team during this terrible time as the world remembers the work and life of this creative genius.

Contributing Writer: Abbe Wright