On February 11, fashion blogs exploded with activity after news of critically acclaimed fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s death. At a mere forty years old, his cause of death as of now has been ruled suicide. It has been insinuated that the death of his mother on February 2, a week before his own death, devastated McQueen while he was already in the midst of immense stress in preparation for his showing at fashion week in Paris.
News of McQueen’s death was all the more prevalent because of its timing. The story broke during the beginning of New York’s Fashion Week, where stylists, magazine editors, models and store buyers were all in one place for a weeks’ worth of runway shows and fashion presentations.
His name became a Twitter ‘trending’ topic for a week to follow, and his memory was celebrated by other designers during Fashion Week (Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour hailed McQueen as being “one of the greatest talents of his generation”). McQueen was also lauded at the recent Brit Awards, the British version of the Grammy Awards, and by loyal consumer and fashion’s current pop-star darling, Lady Gaga (who wore McQueen’s now infamous lobster claw or ‘armadillo’ shoes in her video for “Bad Romance”). Lady Gaga dedicated her performance to Mr. McQueen.
McQueen, loved by the aforementioned Gaga as well as Sarah Jessica Parker, Cate Blanchett and Kate Moss, did more than just make beautiful garments, dress celebrities and create runway shows often described as whimsical delights and dreamlike experiences. He inspired other designers and models to be and to present their best.
Christian Siriano, of Project Runway fame, interned with McQueen and attributes much of his success to the tutelage he received under him. He challenged magazine editors to do more than put the most recent “it” girl on their cover and then throw her in a typical ball gown with train in the pages. McQueen also challenged and inspired artists outside the fashion medium in many different ways, rousing them to be better, to dare to be different again.
Either through his seemingly endless struggle for a postmodern idea of beauty, or his obvious knack for designing breathtaking clothes with structure and substance, McQueen wasn’t just another designer who sewed and constructed clothing – he was a leader in his industry and an archangel of beauty.
Alexander McQueen’s beauty and inspiration came from things he found fascinating – body modification and distortion, a strong sense of tailoring, and the delicate relationship of embracing the avant-garde.
He was fashion’s poster child for the artistic notion and it was this that made him great, but also made him a mystery to most. Bloggers, critics and editors often condemned his eccentric designs as, at best, not being wearable or sellable, and at worst, not fitting into today’s idea of fashion and the identity the industry has within the realm of art.
McQueen shook off these critiques, once saying he was “not interested in being liked.” It was McQueen’s passion however, that made him an important and prominent fashion figure, and that passion earned him the title of an icon.
Aside from the presentations and the gorgeous clothing, it was his desire to speak about social issues through his clothing, to initiate the consumer’s artistic side as opposed to the embedded capitalists in the fashion world, to spark a kind of important fashion revolution – to make it about something more. McQueen wasn’t in the industry to simply make an elegant gown or a revealing cocktail dress and then sell these items to the masses – he cared for the artistry behind the construction and dedicated incredible amounts of time to the idea of his handiwork and presented it all in dazzling ways, often transporting spectators to surreal worlds with small touches of malice thrown in for excitement.
McQueen was as much an artist as he was a designer, and it is this loss of creative and passionate talent in the middle of what seems like a severe drought for artistic thought and expression that’s such a deafening blow to many.
Known for sometime as the “bad boy” of fashion, McQueen took risks – he was a ballsy, off the cuff rebel who refused to give in or shut up and simply make something pretty.
McQueen is survived by his father, five siblings and a world of fashion lovers and appreciators. In the fashion world, which is often criticized as being spoiled, vain and trivial, McQueen challenged these notions, fought back and attempted to save the world of fashion from itself and from others. With his loss, fashion loses one of its protectors, a potential savior and its Queen.
Well Done. Alexander McQueen will be missed and his beautiful, stunning, and outstanding work will always be remembered ….supposedly a wonderful person all around…R.I.P. McQueen.