Fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead today at the age of 40. At this point, the only detail we know is that he did, in fact, take his own life. Alexander’s office released the following statement, “It is a tragic loss. We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family.”
The timing of Alexander’s death happened to line up with the launch of his new line, McQ, which was to be presented at New York Fashion week today. The PR company handling the show has since announced that it has been cancelled.
Images of some of McQueen’s work, as well as exterior views of his London home where he died:
So very sad. A great loss to the fashion industry. His mother died last week and the woman who discovered him and mentored committed suicide herself 3 years ago. He must have been dealing with some horrible feelings and I just hope he has found peace now. Best wishes and thoughts to his family and friends.
wow…i didn’t know about his mother. i honestly thought, since he hung himself, and had a show a few years back with the death meets sex motif, that maybe he accidentally killed himself during some sort of autoerotic asphyxiation ritual.
very sad to hear…he was a true artist and an inspiration to many.
I am so devastated by this. I loved his work and truly think he was a genius. His work transformed the fashion industry by introducing technology, music, and performance art to his shows, seamlessly melding all of these things with his designs. He was truly amazing.
I am very sad that he took his own life. I am very familiar with suicide as my uncle took his own life 2 years ago at the end of this month. I am sad that he felt he had no way out. It was a lot for him to deal with with Isabella committing suicide and his mother dying 9 days ago.
I hope he finds peace and rest now.
RIP Lee McQueen.
Wow, that must have been so hard for him to handle. I wish he would have gone to a counselor and talked it out to help him deal. This is soo sad; I’m totally devastated.
i don’t think they should have cancelled the line. not only would it have done even better since he just killed himself, but also it would have been nice to see his last work.
It seems that they may have canceled the fashion show today rather than the whole line.
Whatever private demons of depression, shame, guilt or illness he faced must have been tremendous.
My empathy.
It is unbelievably hard to commit/complete suicide. To give up on everything involved with life, everyone, to feel so alone and hopeless, that there was no other viable alternative.
If you could see the situation from his perspective, it may make sense.
Fame doesn’t necessarily make for happiness.
Inner peace comes from a life lived with integrity, decision after decision.
Often it is hard to make those sort of choices in a world where ‘all that glitters is gold’ is glamorized — and drugs, alcohol and sexually risky behaviors are rampant.
Rest in peace ye poor wee soul :-(
Oh my God! I’m schoked! I truly loved his work. He IS one of my favorite fashion designer(with Galliano and Westwood).
I’m really sad it’s…unbeliavable!
RIP, may your genius work be remind for a long time.
(Sorry if my english is not verry good i’m french)
Your English is better than many native English speakers! Unfortunately, most Americans can only speak English and most of them don’t speak it well.
Man this really bothers me. Alexander McQueen was a brilliant man. He was the only person in the fashion industry that I thought had any true vision and direction. He was so different, so imaginative and so forward-looking as a designer. He had serious guts as a designer. I’m so sad to see him go. He was such a talent.