British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was found dead Thursday at his home of an apparent suicide. He was 40. McQueen was discovered at his luxury flat in Green Park, central London, where it is believed he hanged himself. He died just days after the loss of his mother, Joyce. “It is a tragic loss,” McQueen’s office said in a statement to UK’s Daily Mail. “We are not making a comment at this time out of respect for the McQueen family.” The notable designer had a large list of celebrity clients including Lady Gaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Beyonce and Naomi Campbell.
McQueen’s contemporary line, McQ, was scheduled to be shown at New York Fashion Week on Thursday afternoon. KCD, the PR company handling the show, says the presentation is canceled.
Born Lee Alexander McQueen, the designer was the youngest of six children and left school at 16 to work as a tailor apprentice at Savile Row’s Anderson & Sheppard, whose clients included Prince Charles and Mikhail Gorbachev.
“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,” his family says in a statement (via PEOPLE.) “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.”
His death also comes just three years after his close friend Isabella Blow killed herself. Blow discovered McQueen during her tenure as fashion director of Tatler. According to friends, McQueen was so distraught by her death that he dedicated his spring summer 2008 show at Paris Fashion Week to his late friend.
