RIP: Alexander McQueen 1969-2010

On the first official day of New York Fashion Week, we have been graced with tragic news.  Legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead at age 40 from suicide.  The news broke this morning, and I have been heartbroken and devastated ever since.

McQueen's looks with gothic, whimsical, and absolutely perfect.  Before I remember Marc Jacobs, or my love of Lanvin, for me, there was always McQueen.  As a young high-school student in small town Montana, I found myself one day hoping and wishing that I would be able to afford a pair of McQueen's killer shoes, and I often used to browse his runway shows in my business classes.

I do not fail to hesitate when I say that everything Alexander McQueen did was absolutely perfect.  Borrowing from every era, while managing to hold his own creatively, McQueen was one of the few designers that I wanted to own anything and everything of every single season.

The more I write, the harder this is.  As I mentioned in a previous post, it is impossible to know what is going through someone's head when they are to the point of suicide.  I just wish McQueen would have talked to someone, this is truly one of the most tragic losses I have seen in my lifetime.  Alexander McQueen is my Kennedy, my Lennon, my Michael Jackson, I will always remember first hearing the news that my favorite designer took his own life.  RIP: Alexander McQueen.

To the left: Alexander McQueen from his Ready-to-Wear Spring 2005 collection.  Much of this collection was very early 1960s, I'm sure that it partially influenced the clothes we see on Mad Men (this outfit is so Joan), and I know that this collection definitely influenced my early age vintage collection.  McQueen managed to pull off the right brights, the perfect neutrals, and still give us something fabulous.  

To the Right: McQueen from Spring Ready-to-Wear 2008.  McQueen was often used on Sex and the City, which was an obvious influence on my fashion and New York expectations at a very young age.  This piece manages to be beautiful, gothic, and out there all in one.  Just scroll through some of his runway shows over the past decade on Style.com, and you will understand where Lady Gaga got much of her fashion inspiration.  It is difficult to believe that such a pivotal designer will no longer be able to grace us with such beauty.