Remembering McQueen

Lee Alexander McQueen died in February this year, just as we were starting work on this issue of Hautefly. Here we pay tribute to the inspirational character without whom British fashion will never be the same.

' It is a terrible loss to the fashion community worldwide... which is a fraternity at the end of the day. Everybody feels that loss and some connection to McQueen, personally and professionally.' - Fern Mallis, President of IMG fashion, organiser of New York Fashion Week

' Absolute shock, absolute shock. What an amazing man. One of the most talented designers in the fashion world absolutely.' - Heidi Klum


'Well it is quite rare to get raw original talent. McQueen probably was one of those talents that comes across every 20 to 30 years. He was an intellectual designer, very theatrical, very anti-discipline.' - Alexander Shulman, Editor of British Vogue


' A great tragedy, a great loss, a big disappointment for our industry. What are we doing wrong? We do some great things, but are we nourishing our talent, looking after our talent?... He was a great cutter, a great tailor, he was one of the few designers who could design, cut and make.' - Paul Costelloe, Fashion Designer


'Being a true artist, being somebody who is constantly being inspired, constantly re-defining his art, not being in the box... when everyone was designing grey because of the economy, out comes Alexander with beautiful colours and prints. True to his own spirit, always one step ahead of the game.' - Hofit Golan

' I always looked up to him, as this incredible talent, its a huge loss.... He was one of the few designers that I looked to with real interest with what he did. I could learn and be inspired.' - Steve Cox and Daniel Silver, Co-founders, Duckie Brown

' A unique originator, who derived everything from his own thoughts. He really wasn't a commercial animal. He lived for his fashion shows, not only were they spectacular and cost an absolute fortune buts that's what he lived for. He wanted to use fashion as a medium to make bold statements.' - Jeff Banks