Biography of Alexander McQueen


Alexander McQueen was a British fashion designer, he lived in London and held the position of art director at Louis Vuitton Givenchy’s house, before launching his own fashion line.

Fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen was born March 17, 1969 in a family belonging to the working class, lived in Louis in public housing for low-income families. His father, Ronald, was a taxi driver, and his mother, Joyce, taught social studies. On their small income, they contained McQueen and his five other brothers and sisters. For most of his life his friends called him Lee. His homosexuality McQueen recognized in the early years, because of what was often subjected to ridicule of classmates.

At the age of 16, McQueen dropped out of school. He found a job in the workshops of Sevil Row, a street in the London area, Mayfair, which was famous for tailor-made men’s suits. At first he worked in the studio Anderson and Shephard, then moved to the studio Gieves and Hawkes nearby.

When McQueen finally decided that he wants to link his career with the creation of clothes, he left the workshops Savile Rowe. He began working at the studio Angels and Bermans in the design of theatrical costumes. There he created clothes in a dramatic style, and this influenced McQueen’s style of clothing in the future. He left London and briefly moved to Milan, where he worked as an assistant to the Italian fashion designer Romeo Guillaume. After returning to London, he entered the St. Martin College of Art and received his Master of Arts in Fashion Design in 1992. For his thesis work, he presented a collection inspired by Jack the Ripper, and she was completely redeemed by the famous London stylist-the eccentric Isabella Blow. She was a fan of his work and remained a friend of McQueen for many years.

Shortly after receiving his education, Alexander McQueen opens his own business of creating clothes for women. To him came incredible success when he introduced bumsters – trousers sitting low on the hips. Only four years after college, McQueen took the post of art director Givenchy, which owned Louis

Vuitton. Although this was a prestigious job, McQueen accepted her reluctantly, and his stay there was a very hectic period in the life of the designer. Despite the destruction of all imaginable and unthinkable borders in the fashion world, McQueen felt that he was being held back all the time. Later he said that the work “limited his creativity”. However, he also said: “I was bad about Givenchy, for me it was only money, but there’s nothing to be done: I wanted to work,

In 2000, Gucci bought a 51 percent stake in the private company of Alexander McQueen and invested in it capital to expand its business. Shortly thereafter, McQueen left Givenchy. In 2003, McQueen was recognized as the “Designer of the Year” according to the Council of Designers of America and the Queen of England awarded him the Order of the Commander of the British Empire, and he won the “Best British Designer of the Year” award. Meanwhile, McQueen opens stores in New York, Milan, London, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Thanks to Gucci’s investments, McQueen is becoming more popular than ever. McQueen was already known for his explosive and vivid shows, and after leaving Givenchy, his productions become even more interesting. For example, at his Autumn / Winter show in 2006, a hologram of Kate Moss floated in the air.

Also Alexander McQueen is known for being never shy about his appearance and his origin. One of his acquaintances said that during their first meeting, McQueen was “dressed in a checkered flannel shirt and cheap shabby jeans with a long chain for keys… and was quite low and thick.” Other his friends said that his teeth “look like Stonehenge.” Based on the opinion of people close to him, we can conclude that McQueen was proud, destroying stereotypes about how successful designers should look.

In 2007, with the suicide of Isabella Blow McQueen begins to pursue the specter of death. The designer dedicated Blow a Spring / Summer 2008 show and said that her death “was the most valuable thing I learned about fashion.” Two years later, on February 2, 2010, McQueen’s mother died. The day after her funeral, on February 11, 2010, McQueen was found dead in his apartment in Mayfair, London. The cause of death was suicide. The story of Alexander McQueen is incredible: he grew up from a man who dropped out of school, to the level of a world-famous designer. His bold style and amazing shows inspired the whole world of fashion, and his legacy continues to live. The operating brand of Alexander McQueen was inherited by Sarah Burton, a designer with whom he worked for a long time.


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Biography of Alexander McQueen