Alexander McQueen – The Death of a Visionary | New Naturalista

By: The Buyologist

The recent death of Alexander McQueen sent shockwaves through the fashion community. As an ardent admirer of the designer and his aesthetic I found myself full of emotion after hearing the news of his passing.

What shocked me more than anything was the abruptness of his death; I found that my thoughts were focused on the meaning behind this tragedy.

Alexander McQueen was a visionary who had already greatly contributed to the history of fashion. He could have potentially changed the direction of fashion in a way that hasn’t been done since the new look. If any designer was in line to do so, it was McQueen. In a way he already had, revolutionizing the presentation of fashion collections. What is irrefutable is the impact of his impeccably tailored, yet dramatic and oft times shocking designs are yet to be realized.

Many articles touch on his apprenticeship at Savile Row, his attending Central Saint Martins and subsequent sale of his graduation collection to prominent stylist Isabella Blow. Even more describe his mother’s recent death and his close relationship with her and with Blow, who incidentally had taken her life three years previously. Some try to find the sense of his death. Looking for clues to what may have led to his untimely demise via his twitter account. But what concerns me the most is how his death seems so implausible. How the self inflicted death of anyone so successful, so well respected could ever happen. His death made me think about those around me. Those that I love and how as close as you can be to people, you never truly know what a person may be going through. How as a person who has achieved success; who is surrounded by acolytes and praise you can still feel the desire to end your life. I wonder what was going through McQueen’s mind in his last hours. It may sound macabre, but I think it is vital to understand what would cause a living icon to end it all. Culturally we can’t afford to ignore the toll that living takes on people who give of themselves to the creative process. We are losing too many artists who make the world so beautiful, so worth living in. Ultimately, framing the circumstances that caused this can only help us become better caretakers of each other.

The loss I feel is profound. The loss of life is saddening above all but there is something to be learned from it. Because a death such as this is a challenge for us all to look closer to those around us. To hope that others do the same, in return. To take care of one another. As for the affect of his death in the fashion world, it is a terrible blow. Because art is such a diminishing commodity and artistic relevance in fashion even more so. Alexander McQueen seamlessly connected the two worlds together; not many designers can do so without contrivance and still with such levity such as he did. He will be missed. Most certainly for what he brought to the table; most definitely for what was to come. As a prolific genius an all encompassing index of his work would be impossible in this space, but a small photo retrospective is below. Not by any means is this meant to be a comprehensive study on the designs of McQueen, the man who spawned many trends. For example, it is nearly impossible to locate photos of his famed “bumster” pants; pants so lo cut that they revealed the top part of the wearers’ backside and virtually created the low rise trend. This is just a spotlight on a few looks. A drop in the bucket for a man who had given us so much and I am sure, had so much more fashion to give.