Alexander McQueen

Alexander McQueen was openly gay. In 2000 he married George Forsyth, a documentary filmmaker in Ibiza. But it wasn't official as Spain held 'same-sex marriage' as illegal then. They separated after a year and remained good friends.

On February 11, 2010, he was found hanging at his home by his housekeeper and was pronounced dead by the doctors who arrived at the scene. The police record suggested drug over-dose and slashing of the wrists with a ceremonial dagger.

His funeral took place on February 25, 2010 at St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, West London and the ashes were scattered at the Isle of Skye.

Alexander McQueen was born on March 17, 1969 in Lewisham, London and was the youngest of six siblings. His father, Ronald, was a taxi driver and his mother, Joyce, was a social science teacher.

He attended Carpenter's Road Primary School and Rokeby School. In 1985, he left school for an apprenticeship with the traditional Savile Row tailors ‘Anderson & Shephard’. He also served his apprenticeship at ‘Gieves and Hawkes’ and at ‘Angels and Bermans’.

From his apprenticeship at Angels and Bermans, McQueen mastered six methods of pattern cutting and developed his signature razor-sharp tailoring. He then moved on to work with Koji Tatsuno for a year and thereafter became design assistant of famous Italian fashion designer Romeo Gigli.

He earned his master's degree in fashion design from London's Central Saint Martin’s in 1992 and his graduation collection was bought entirely by Isabella Blow, an influential fashion stylist of the time.

He started his own business, designing clothes for women, and introduced “bumster pants”, named so because of their extremely low-cut waistline.

After the launch of his first collection he shifted to Hoxton and launched his second and third collections, named, 'McQueen's Theatre of Cruelty' and 'The Birds', respectively.

McQueen designed wardrobes for singer David Bowie's 1996–97 tour and the coat that Bowie was wearing on the cover of his album 'Earthling' was also designed by him.

Alexander McQueen was one of the youngest designers to achieve the 'British Designer of the Year' Award in 1996. He went on to win the award three more times.

In 2003, he was awarded ‘Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’ (CBE) in honour of his contribution to the fashion industry.

He won the 'CFDA Award for Best International Designer' in 2003 and the 'Men's Wear Designer of the Year' award in 2004.