Alexander McQueen is a luxury fashion house founded by Lee Alexander McQueen (1969-2010). Its current creative director is Sarah Burton.
History
Alexander McQueen was founded by designer McQueen in 1992It was the suggestion of Isabella Blow that McQueen use his middle name for the label.The house's early collections developed its reputation for controversy and shock tactics (earning the title "l'enfant terrible" and "the hooligan of English fashion"), with trousers aptly named "bumsters" and a collection entitled Highland Rape Alexander McQueen staged lavish, unconventional, runway shows, such as a recreation of a shipwreck for his spring 2003 collection, spring 2005's human chess game and the Fall 2006 show, Widows of Culloden, which featured a life-sized hologram of supermodel Kate Moss dressed in yards of rippling fabric.During his time as head designer, McQueen was awarded the title "British Designer of the Year" four times between 1996 and 2003;he was also awarded the CBE and named International Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers in 2003.
In December 2000, the Gucci Group acquired 51% of his company and appointed him as Creative Director before launching stores in London,Milan New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Following the take over, the brand's catwalk presentations were relocated from London to Paris, beginning with the Spring/Summer 2002 collection The Dance of The Twisted Bull on 6 October 2001.Alexander McQueen launched its first menswear collection in Spring/Summer 2005and continues to show its collections during Milan Fashion Week. The company launched its first women's pre-spring collection on the runway with its mens collection on 22 June 2008 and has since continued releasing cruise collections since Spring 2010.
In 27 July 2006, the company launched a lower-priced diffusion line McQ. The new line carries men's and women's ready-to-wear and accessories, was exclusively designed by Lee Alexander McQueen, manufactured and distributed worldwide by SINV SpA under the terms of a five-year licence agreement with Alexander McQueen. Promoted as a denim line, the focus of McQ is a youthful target market. The Spring/Summer 2011 was the final collection in collaboration with SINV SpA. Pina Ferlisi was appointed as the creative director for the line in June 2010.
Alexander McQueen branched into e-commerce, launching an online store in the US in 2008. This was later expanded with an online store for the UK market in 2010.
McQueen's suicide was announced on the afternoon of 11 February 2010. At the time of his death, the company had debts of £32 million despite posting profits from handbag sales in 2008
Post-Lee Alexander McQueen through today
On 18 February 2010, Robert Polet, the president and chief executive of the Gucci Group, announced that the Alexander McQueen business would carry on without its founder and creative director. He also added that a McQueen collection would be presented during Paris Fashion Week.
On 27 May 2010, Sarah Burton, McQueen's right hand design aide since 1996 was announced as the new creative director the Alexander McQueen brand, with further plans to launch a men's underwear collection in June 2010. The underwear line featured iconic prints from the McQueen archive and the logo on the waistband, with a percentage of the launch collection of Alexander McQueen underwear to be given to various AIDS charities around the world.
Burton launched her first menswear show Pomp and Circumstance under the McQueen brand in June 2010 to generally positive reviews, which noted how low-key the event was. She launched the brand's womenswear resort collection shortly after, which was praised for lightness and having 'a woman's touch'. Burton showed her first womenswear show on 5 October 2010 in Paris, where she said her vision for the brand would be "lighter". The show was a huge success, and praised for being one of the strongest shows at Paris Fashion Week, "full of McQueen trademarks and ideas" and a "far more optimistic sensibility". Michael Jackson's "I'll Be There" was played at the finale of the show.
Following the expiry of the contract with SINV SpA with the Spring/Summer 2011 collection, the brand announced on 11 October 2010 that it would take control of the McQ diffusion line by creating a new internal team with the creative direction of Pina Ferlisi, under the under the leadership of Alexander McQueen creative director Sarah Burto
