Designer Alexander McQueen. Photo by Martin Godwin

The British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his London home at the age of 40.

His body was discovered at his property in Green Street, in London’s West End, shortly after 10am today. Paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem has been scheduled but police said his death was not being treated as suspicious. They would not comment on reports he had killed himself.

A spokeswoman for McQueen said: “Mr McQueen was found dead this morning at his home. We’re devastated and I hope you understand that out of respect to his family and his colleagues we’re not going to be making any further statement.”

His death comes just days before the start of London fashion week and a month before he was to unveil his new collection at Paris fashion week.

His family asked for privacy to come to terms with the death of McQueen, whose first name was Lee.

His company, Alexander McQueen, issued a statement saying: “On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home. At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.”

“Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.”

Alexandra Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, said McQueen had influenced a whole generation of designers. “His brilliant imagination knew no bounds as he conjured up collection after collection of extraordinary designs,” she said.

“At one level he was a master of the fantastic, creating astounding fashion shows that mixed design, technology and performance and on another he was a modern-day genius whose gothic aesthetic was adopted by women the world over. His death is the hugest loss to anyone who knew him and for very many who didn’t.” Read the rest of this entry »

The British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead at his London home at the age of 40. His body was discovered at his property in Green Street, in London’s West End, shortly after 10am today. Paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene. A postmortem has been scheduled but police [...]