Earlier this afternoon I heard the very sad news that Alexander McQueen had died.
I had the great privilege to work for Lee (Alexander was his middle name) for a short time in the early 90s. Lee was just starting out, I was looking for work experience, and he was the first designer to answer the phone when my tutor started calling round to see if she could find me something!
After a brief meeting at his then flat in Tooting, where he grilled me about my design skills, and rubbished my attempts at tailoring, he agreed to take me on to help him prepare his first catwalk collection.
We spent the summer working out of, and sleeping on the floor of, a flat in Chadwell Heath owned by his sister (Well, I slept on the floor – Lee had the bedroom!), living on hummus, soup & fresh air. And the odd night out on the town!
As well as more mundane jobs like running errands and sewing, Lee also gave me the freedom to design some pieces for the collection, as well as the opportunity to work with some of the people producing textiles and accessories for him.
After the summer, when I returned to college for my final year, I carried on working for Lee in my spare time until the show in the Autumn, and afterwards, until the demands of producing my graduation collection took over.
A vague plan to start working properly for Lee after I graduated fell through due to lack of money and we lost touch when I went travelling, bumping into each other only a few times in the years since then, though I continued to follow his brilliant career.
Working for Lee remains one of the best experiences of my life – he taught me a huge amount about fashion & design, but also about life in general too. And it was great fun. He was hugely talented, inspiring, generous, hard-working, brilliantly creative - his death is a huge loss in many, many ways. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Goodbye Lee
