Designer Alexander McQueen Dies at 40

He was l’enfant terrible of the world of fashion, a designer who not once crossed the boundary between beautiful and grotesque by tackling themes and topics usually frowned upon in high fashion. British designer Alexander McQueen was just 40 years old and, on Thursday, he was found dead in his London apartment. Cause of death is believed to have been suicide, as the Los Angeles Times informs.

McQueen was a very popular name with A-list stars, all of whom praised him for being a true genius. Constantly pushing boundaries with his work, part of which was so elitist it could only do well on the high couture catwalk, McQueen was often referred to as the brilliant foul-mouthed hooligan that brought something new to the scene: an explosion of personality, true life injected into high fashion, where it was most needed. Sadly, it was precisely that explosion of vitality that he apparently lacked.

“Alexander McQueen, the fashion world’s reigning provocateur who helped elevate British fashion to the international stage with his unconventional and sometimes macabre designs, was found dead Thursday at his home in London. He was 40. The police have not released an official report on the cause of death, but his press representatives at KCD Worldwide said it appeared to be a suicide,” the LA Times writes of McQueen’s death.

The world of fashion is now in mourning, having lost the most daring designer ever to gain mainstream acceptance. Famed for his impressively architectural, multi-layered creations and out of the ordinary influences and themes, McQueen was the favorite designer for self-styled fashionistas like Victoria Beckham and Sarah Jessica Parker. Both have already expressed their regrets at the sudden passing of the British designer, saying there are no words to properly paint the kind of loss the fashion industry has just suffered.

“He was known for rigorously tailored jackets, second-skin repeating-pattern leggings and dresses, gravity-defying lobster-claw shoes – which Lady Gaga daringly donned in her ‘Bad Romance’ video – and a fascination with the macabre that lent itself to suitcases with rib-cage motifs and sweaters with cable-knit skulls and crossbones. ‘A gifted iconoclast, who could just as easily be creating art as fashion,’ was how former Times fashion editor Mimi Avins described McQueen upon seeing his clothes for the first time in 1996,” the aforementioned publication further says.