14 DAY TRIAL // This week, the fashion industry dealt with a very severe blow with the death of visionary creator Alexander McQueen, often referred to as l’enfant terrible of the industry. As police consider his death a suicide, fans are rushing to get their hands on items created by him, which has made it so that sales of his creations have shot up by an estimated 1,400%, as Zimbio informs.
As of now, nothing is certain about the circumstances of his death, but reports are saying he was suffering from a severe form of depression, brought on by the death of his mother earlier this year and presumable that of one of his friends as well. Admittedly, McQueen was found hanged in his London apartment, but confirmation of this has not yet been offered. What is certain is that, just like it happened with Michael Jackson in the summer of 2009, sales have gone through the roof.
“In the wake of designer Alexander McQueen’s untimely death, department stores are seeing a surge in sales of the beloved designer’s accessories – namely his iconic skull-print silk scarf. Kate Brindley, the head of press at London’s Liberty department store, said: ‘The response was immediate. At about 4 pm, just after the news broke, all of our Alexander McQueen stock started flying off the shelves.’ Other fans have left flowers outside of Alexander McQueen boutiques in London, New York, and West Hollywood. Many of his boutiques have closed down out of respect for the deceased visionary,” Zimbio writes.
The British Daily Mail is a bit more specific as to how huge this “immediate response” was, saying sales have gone up by 1,400 % in the two days since the designer’s death. At the same time, celebrities who have shown throughout the years an inclination for McQueen’s extraordinary creations continue to pay their respects to him in the media and mourn his sudden and tragic passing. Singer Kylie Minogue, for instance, also did so by wearing the aforementioned iconic skull scarf, the version made of wool and silk and which retails for $395.
Karl Lagerfeld, yet another visionary designer, also issued a statement to lament the passing of McQueen saying, “I found his work very interesting and never banal. There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanized. Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you.” Coming from Lagerfeld, this is very high – the highest kind of – praise.