"Alexander McQueen" by David LaChapelle
Fashion visionary Lee McQueen, creative director and founder of the Alexander McQueen label, was found dead in his home in London Thursday morning. The former creative director of the famous House of Givenchy and Gucci was mourned in the Lincoln Center Tents during the first day of Spring 2010’s Fashion Week.
Editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, commented: “Lee McQueen influenced a whole generation of designers. His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs.
“At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn’t.”
His visions graced numerous red carpets in recent years, most recently by Lady Gaga.
Alexander McQueen from Paris Fashion Week, Fall 2009
McQueen was a master at calling fashion’s bluff; inevitably being courted by under-zealous contemporaries who called him one of fashion’s greatest influencers. Cindy Weber Cleary, Fashion director for InStyle, said of McQueen: “He was a huge talent, a master of tailoring and always willing to push the envelope. He was forward thinking.”
An example of such forward-thinking fashion would have to be his runway littered with broken mirrors and shredded Givenchy “little black dresses” during Paris’s Fall 2009 Fashion Week.
SPREAD chooses not to speculate on the details surrounding Lee McQueen’s death, but bids farewell to a true cultural instigator who made a noticeable impact during his relatively short career.
