Alexander McQueen

Born: 17 March 1969

Died: 11 February 2010

Known for: founding his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992 and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001.

Fields: Fashion

Awards: British Fashion Designer of the Year

Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Council of Fashion Designers of America International Designer of the Year 2004

Lee Alexander McQueen (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded the eponymous fashion house Alexander McQueen in 1992, and worked as chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. He won four British Designer of the Year awards (1996, 1997, 2001, 2003), and the CFDA International Designer of the Year award in 2003.

McQueen had a background in tailoring before he studied fashion and embarked on a career as a designer. His MA graduation collection caught the attention of the fashion editor Isabella Blow, who became his patron. McQueen's early designs, particularly the radically low-cut "bumster" trousers, gained him recognition as an enfant terrible in British fashion. In 2000, McQueen sold 51% of his company to the Gucci Group, which established boutiques for his label worldwide and expanded its product range. During his career, he designed a total of 36 collections for his brand, including his graduation collection and an unfinished final collection. Following his death, his longtime collaborator Sarah Burton took over as creative director of his label.

As a designer, McQueen was known for sharp tailoring, historicism, and imaginative designs that often verged into the controversial. He explored themes such as romanticism, sexuality, and death, and many collections had autobiographical elements. Among his best-known individual designs are the bumsters, the skull scarf, and the armadillo shoes. McQueen's catwalk shows were noted for their drama and theatricality, and they often ended with elements of performance art, such as a model being spray painted by robots (No. 13, Spring/Summer 1999), or a life-size illusion of Kate Moss (The Widows of Culloden, Autumn/Winter 2006).

McQueen's legacy in fashion and culture is extensive. His designs were showcased in two retrospective exhibitions: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2011 and 2015) and Lee Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse (2022). He remains the subject of journalistic and academic analysis, including the book Gods and Kings (2015) by fashion journalist Dana Thomas and the documentary film McQueen (2018).