Alexander McQueen was a London-based, English fashion designer who was head designer of the Louis Vuitton Givenchy fashion line, before starting his own line.
Who Was Alexander McQueen?
Alexander McQueen was born on March 17, 1969, in Lewisham, London. He became head designer of the Louis Vuitton-owned Givenchy fashion line, and in 2004 he launched his own menswear line. McQueen earned the British Fashion Council's British Designer of the Year award four times, and was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He committed suicide in 2010, shortly after the death of his mother.
Early Years Lee Alexander McQueen was born on March 17, 1969, into a working-class family living in public housing in London's Lewisham district. His father, Ronald, was a cab driver, and his mother, Joyce, taught social science. On their small incomes, they supported McQueen and his five siblings. McQueen, called "Lee" by his friends for most of his life, recognized his homosexuality at an early age and was teased extensively about it by schoolmates.
At age 16, McQueen dropped out of school. He found work on Savile Row, a street in London's Mayfair district famous for offering made-to-order men's suits. He worked first with the tailor shop Anderson and Shephard, and then moved to nearby Gieves and Hawkes. Finding His Niche Deciding to further his clothes-making career, McQueen moved on from Savile Row and began working with theatrical costume designers Angels and Bermans. The dramatic style of the clothing he made there would become a signature of his later independent design work. McQueen then left London for a short stint in Milan, where he worked as a design assistant to Italian fashion designer Romeo Gigli. Upon his return to London, McQueen enrolled at Central Saint Martin's College of Art & Design, and received his M.A. in fashion design in 1992.
The collection he produced as the culminating project of his degree was inspired by Jack the Ripper, and was famously bought in its entirety by the well-known London stylist and eccentric Isabella Blow. She became a long-time friend of McQueen's, as well as an advocate for his work. Givenchy Head Designer Soon after obtaining his degree, Alexander McQueen started his own business designing clothes for women. He met enormous success with the introduction of his "bumster" pants, so named because of their extremely low-cut waistline. Only four years out of design school, McQueen was named Chief Designer of Louis Vuitton-owned Givenchy, a French haute couture fashion house.
